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THE YALE 
SHAKESPEARE 



EOITKD BY 
J A CI' R. CuavVFORD 




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Press 




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COPifRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE YALE SHAKESPEARE 



Edited by 
Wilbur L. Cross Tucker Brooke 

WiLLARD HiGLEY DuRHAM 



Published under the Direction 

OF THE 

Department of English, Yale University, 

ON the Fund 

Given to the Yale University Press in 1917 

by the Members of the 

Kingsley Trust Association 

To Commemorate the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary 

of the Founding of the Society 



The Yale Shakespeare 



THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET 
PRINCE OF DENMARK 



S *f?>./a Jtt.,«-M'' 



/V^'V 



EDITED BY 

JACK RANDALL CRAWFORD 




NEW HAVEN • YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

LONDON • HUMPHREY MILFORD 
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • MCMXVII 



CnS-jbu a^ 



>T?asof 

Ccspij S, 



Copyright, 1917 
By Yale University Press 



First published, October, 1917 



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15 19!/ . 



'CU4 7S132 ,-.. y 



TABLE OF CONTENTS ^ 







page 


The Text 


• ••••• 


1 


Notes 


• • • • ■ 9 


^ 155 


Appendix A. 


Sources . . . . 


177 


Appendix B. 


History of the Play . 


181 


Appendix C. 


The Text 


183 


Appendix D. 


Suggestions for Collateral 




Reading 


. . 


186 


Index of Words Glossed .... 


187 



The facsimile opposite represents the title-page of 
the Elizabethan Club copy of the Second Quarto {I6O4). 
Only three copies of this edition are known to survive. 



THE 

Tragicall Hiftorie of 

HAMLET, 

By Willum Shakefpeare, 

Newly imprinted and enlarged to almoft as much 
againe as it was, according to the true and perfe<St 
Coppie. 




AT LONDON. 

Printed by I. R. for N. L. and are to be fold at his 
ftioppe vnder Saint Dunflons Church in 



[DRAMATIS PERSONS 

Claudius^ King of Denmark 

Hamlet, Son to the late, and Nephew to the present 

King 
FoRTiNBRAS, Prince of Norway 
Horatio, Friend to Hamlet 
PoLONius, Lord Chamberlain 
Laertes, his Son 
voltimand, 
Cornelius, 
rosencrantz, 

GuiLDENSTERN, 
OSRIC, 

A Gentleman, 
A Priest 



Courtiers 



Marcellus, ) ^ ^ 
T. r Officers 

Jdernardo, ) •'•' 



Francisco, a Soldier 

Reynaldo, Servant to Polonius 

A Captain 

English Ambassadors 

Players. Two Clowns, Grave-diggers 

Gertrude, Queen of Denmark and Mother to Hamlet 

Ophelia, Daughter to Polonius 

Lords, Ladies, Officers, Soldiers, Sailor, Messenger, 

and Attendants 
Ghost of Hamlet's Father 

Scene: DenmarJc.'\ 

Dramatis Personse; cf. n. 



Hamlet — Prince of Denmark 

ACT FIRST 

Scene One 

[Elsinore. A Platform of the Castle^ 

Enter Bernardo and Francisco, two Sentinels. 

Ber. Who's there? 

Fran. Nay, answer me ; stand, and unfold yourself. 

Ber. Long live the king! 

Fran. Bernardo? 4 

Ber. He. 

Fran. You come most carefully upon your hour. 

Ber. 'Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, 
Francisco. 

Fran. For this relief much thanks ; 'tis bitter cold, 8 
And I am sick at heart. 

Ber. Have you had quiet guard? 

Fran. Not a mouse stirring. 

Ber. Well, good-night. 
If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, 12 

The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste. 

Enter Horatio and Marcellus. 

Fran. I think I hear them. Stand, ho! Who's 

there? 
Hor. Friends to this ground. 

Mar. And liegemen to the Dane. 

Fran. Give you good-night. 
Mar. O ! farewell, honest soldier : 16 

S. d. Platform: level space on castle ramparts 

3 Long . . . king!; cf. n. 13 rivals: partners 

15 Friends . . . Dane; cf. n. 16 Give you: God^give you 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 



Who hath reliev'd you? 

Fran, Bernardo has my place. 

Give you good-night. Exit Francisco, 

Mar, ' Holla ! Bernardo ! 

Ber, Say, 

What ! is Horatio there ? 

Hor, A piece of him. 

Ber. Welcome, Horatio; welcome, good Mar- 
cellus. 20 

Mar. What ! has this thing appear'd again to-night ? 

Ber. I have seen nothing. 

Mar. Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy, 
And will not let belief take hold of him 24 

Touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us: 
Therefore I have entreated him along 
With us to watch the minutes of this night ; 
That if again this apparition come, 28 

He may approve our eyes and speak to it. 

Hor. Tush, tush ! 'twill not appear. 

Ber. Sit down awhile. 

And let us once again assail your ears. 
That are so fortified against our story, 32 

What we two nights have seen. 

Hor. Well, sit we down. 

And let us hear Bernardo speak of this. 

Ber. Last night of all. 
When yond same star that's westward from the pole 36 
Had made his course to illume that part of heaven 
Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself. 
The bell then beating one, — Enter the Ghost. 

Mar. Peace! break thee off; look, where it comes 
again ! 40 

19 piece; c/. n. 23 fantasy : imagination 

29 approve: confirm 37 his; cf. n. 



Prince of Denmark, Z. i 



Ber. In the same figure, like the king that's dead. 

Mar. Thou art a scholar ; speak to it, Horatio. 

Ber. Looks it not like the king? mark it, Horatio. 

Hor. Most like: it harrows me with fear and 
wonder. 44 

Ber. It would be spoke to. 

Mar. Question it, Horatio. 

Hor. What art thou that usurp'st this time of night, 
Together with that fair and war-like form 
In which the majesty of buried Denmark 48 

Did sometimes march .^ by heaven I charge thee, 
speak ! 

Mar. It is odffended. 

Ber. See! it stalks away. 

Hor. Stay ! speak, speak ! I charge thee, speak ! 

Exit the Ghost. 

Mar. 'Tis gone, and will not answer. 52 

Ber. How now, Horatio! you tremble and look 
pale: 
Is not this something more than fantasy? 
What think you on *t? 

Hor. Before my God, I might not this believe 56 
Without the sensible and true avouch 
Of mine own eyes. 

Mar. Is it not like the king? 

Hor. As thou art to thyself: 
Such was the very armour he had on 60 

When he the ambitious Norway combated; 
So frown'd he once, when, in an angry parle. 
He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice. 
'Tis strange. 64 

42 scholar; cf. n. 43 mark: observe closely 

45 It ... to; cf. n. 49 sometimes: formerly 

57 sensible: involving the use of one of the senses avouch: assurance 
62 parle: parley 6Z sledded Polacks: Poles on sledges ( ?) ; cf. n. 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 



Mar. Thus twice before, and jump at this dead 
hour. 
With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. 

Hor. In what particular thought to work I know 
not; 
But in the gross and scope of my opinion, 68 

This bodes some strange eruption to our state. 

Mar. Good now, sit down, and tell me, he that 
knows. 
Why this same strict and most observant watch 
So nightly toils the subject of the land; 72 

And why such daily cast of brazen cannon. 
And foreign mart for implements of war; 
Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task 
Does not divide the Sunday from the week; 76 

What might be toward, that this sweaty haste 
Doth make the night joint-labourer with the day: 
Who is 't that can inform me? 

Hor. That can I; 

At least, the whisper goes so. Our last king, 80 

Whose image even but now appear'd to us. 
Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, 
Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride, 
Dar'd to the combat ; in which our valiant Hamlet — 84 
For so this side of our known world esteem'd him — 
Did slay this Fortinbras ; who, by a seal'd compact. 
Well ratified by law and heraldry. 
Did forfeit with his life all those his lands 88 

Which he stood seiz'd of, to the conqueror; 

65 jump: just 67 thought: train of thinking 

68 gross and scope: general drift 70 Good now; cf. n. 

72 toils: causes to toil subject: people, subjects 

73 cast: founding 74 mart: traffic, buying and selling 
75 impress: enforced service _ 77 toward: in preparation 
83 prick'd on: incited emulate: ambitious 

87 law and heraldry; cf. n. ^ 89 seiz'd of: possessed of 



Prince of Denmark,, I. i 



Against the which, a moiety competent 

Was gaged by our king; which had return'd 

To the inheritance of Fortinbras, 92 

Had he been vanquisher ; as, by the same covenant, 

And carriage of the article design'd, 

His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras, 

Of unimproved mettle hot and full, 96 

Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there 

Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes. 

For food and diet, to some enterprise 

That hath a stomach in 't ; which is no other — 

As it doth well appear unto our state — 101 

But to recover of us, by strong hand 

And terms compulsative, those foresaid lands 

So by his father lost. And this, I take it, 104 

Is the main motive of our preparations. 

The source of this our watch and the chief head 

Of this post-haste and romage in the land. 

[Ber. I think it be no other but e'en so; 108 

Well may it sort that this portentous figure 
Comes armed through our watch, so like the king 
That was and is the question of these wars. 

Hor. A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye. 112 
In the most high and palmy state of Rome, 
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell. 
The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead 
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets; 116 

90 moiety competent: equal amount 91 gaged: staked 

94 carriage : import design'd : drawn up 

96 unimproved: unproved ( ?) ; cf. n. hot and full: exceedingly 
ardent 

97 skirts: outskirts 

98 Shark'd up: picked up at haphazard list; cf. n. resolutes: 
desperadoes 

99 For . . . diet; cf. n. 100 stomach; cf. n. 
103 compulsative: involving compulsion 106 head: origin 
107 romage: commotion, hustle 109 sort: fit 

112 mote: minute particle of dust 

113 ^&\my st2it&: flourishing sovereignty 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 



As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood. 
Disasters in the sun; and the moist star 
Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands 
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse; 120 

And even the like precurse of fierce events. 
As harbingers preceding still the fates 
And prologue to the omen coming on. 
Have heaven and earth together demonstrated 
Unto our climatures and countrymen.] 125 

Enter Ghost again. 
But, soft ! behold ! lo ! where it comes again. 
Ill cross it, though it blast me. Stay, illusion ! 
If thou hast any sound, or use of voice, 128 

It spreads his arms. 
Speak to me: 

If there be any good thing to be done. 
That may to thee do ease and grace to me. 
Speak to me: 132 

If thou art privy to thy country's fate. 
Which happily foreknowing may avoid, 
O ! speak ; 

Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life 136 

Extorted treasure in the womb of earth. 
For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death. 

The cock crows. 
Speak of it: stay, and speak! Stop it, Marcellus. 139 

Mar. Shall I strike at it with my partisan? 

Hor. Do, if it will not stand. 

Ber. 'Tis here! 

Hor. 'Tis here! 

117 As . . . blood; cf. n. 

118 Disasters: unfavorable aspects; cf. n. moist star: moon 

120 sick . . . doomsday; cf. n. 121 precurse: heralding 

122 still: constantly 123 prologue: introduction 

125 climatures: regions (?); cf. n. 127 cross: meet, face; cf. n. 

131 [do] grace: do honor to 134 happily: haply 

136 uphoarded; cf. n. 140 partisan; cf. n. 



Prince of Denmark, I. i 



Exit Ghost. 

Mar. 'Tis gone! 
We do it wrong, being so majestical, 
To oifer it the show of violence; 144 

For it is, as the air, invulnerable, 
And our vain blows malicious mockery. 

Ber. It was about to speak when the cock crew. 

Hor. And then it started like a guilty thing 
Upon a fearful summons, I have heard, 149 

The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn. 
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat 
Awake the god of day; and at his warning, 152 

Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air. 
The extravagant and erring spirit hies 
To his confine; and of the truth herein 
This present object made probation. 156 

Mar. It faded on the crowing of the cock. 
Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes 
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated. 
The bird of dawning singeth all night long; leo 

And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad; 
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike. 
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm. 
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time. 164 

Hor. So have I heard and do in part believe it. 
But, look, the morn in russet mantle clad. 
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill ; 
Break we our watch up; and by my advice I68 

Let us impart what we have seen to-night 
Unto young Hamlet; for, upon my life. 
This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. 

150 cock; cf. n. 

154 extravagant: t/as-ran* erring: wandering hies: hastens 

155 confine: place of confinement 156 probation: proof 
158 gainst that: by the time that 162 planets strike; cf. n 
163 ta.]<.es: bewitches '^6'^ gracious: instinct with goodness 



8 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it. 
As needful in our loves, fitting our duty ? 173 

Mar. Let's do 't, I pray; and I this morning know 
Where we shall find him most conveniently. Exeunt. 

Scene Two 

[A Room of State in the Castle^ 

Enter Claudius, King of DenmarJc, Gertrude the 
Queen, Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes and his sister, 
Ophelia, \_and'] Lords attendant. 

King. Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's 
death 
The memory be green, and that it us befitted 
To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom 
To be contracted in one brow of woe, 4 

Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature 
That we with wisest sorrow think on him. 
Together with remembrance of ourselves. 
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen. 
The imperial jointress of this war-like state, 9 

Have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy. 
With one auspicious and one dropping eye. 
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, 12 
In equal scale weighing delight and dole, 
Taken to wife : nor have we herein barr'd 
Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone 
With this affair along: for all, our thanks. 16 

Now follows, that you know, young Fortinbras, 
Holding a weak supposal of our worth. 
Or thinking by our late dear brother's death 

4 brow of woe: aspect of woe 9 jointress: joint possessor, or, dowager 

10 defeated: disfigured 11 auspicious: happy dropping: tearful 

«43 dole: grief 18 weak supposal: low opinion 



Prince of Denmark, I, it 9 

Our state to be disjoint and out of frame, 20 

CoUeagued with the dream of his advantage. 

He hath not fail'd to pester us with message. 

Importing the surrender of those lands 

Lost by his father, with all bands of law, 24 

To our most valiant brother. So much for him. 

Enter Voltimand and Cornelius. 
Now for ourself and for this time of meeting. 
Thus much the business is: we have here writ 
To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras, 28 

Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears 
Of this his nephew's purpose, to suppress 
His further gait herein; in that the levies. 
The lists and full proportions, are all made 32 

Out of his sub j ect ; and we here dispatch 
You, good Cornelius, and you, Voltimand, 
For bearers of this greeting to old Norway, 
Giving to you no further personal power 36 

To business with the king more than the scope 
Of these delated articles allow. 
Farewell and let your haste commend your duty. 
[Cor.] } In that and all things will we show our 
Vol. ) duty. 40 

King. We doubt it nothing: heartily farewell. 

Exeunt Voltimand and Cornelius. 
And now, Laertes, what's the news with you.f* 
You told us of some suit; what is't, Laertes? 
You cannot speak of reason to the Dane, 44 

And lose your voice; what wouldst thou beg, Laertes, 
That shall not be my offer, not thy asking? 

20 disjoint: at loose ends frame: order 

21 CoUeagued: allied dream of his advantage: imaginary superiority 
23 Importing: bearing as its purport 24 hands: agreements 
31 gait: proceeding 32 proportions: supplies, forces 
38 delated: expressly stated 44 the Dane: the king of Denmark 
45 lose your voice : speak to no purpose 



10 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

The head is not more native to the heart, 
The hand more instrumental to the mouth_, 48 

Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father. 
What wouldst thou have, Laertes? 

Laer. Dread my lord. 

Your leave and favour to return to France; 
From whence though willingly I came to Denmark, 52 
To show my duty in your coronation. 
Yet now, I must confess, that duty done. 
My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France 
And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon. 56 

King. Have you your father's leave? What says 
Polonius ? 

Pol. He hath, my lord, [wrung from me my slow 
leave 
By laboursome petition, and at last 
Upon his will I seal'd my hard consent:] 60 

I do beseech you, give him leave to go. 

King. Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine, 
And thy best graces spend it at thy will. 
But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son, — - 64 

Ham. [Aside. '\ A little more than kin, and less 
than kind. 

King. How is it that the clouds still hang on you? 

Ham. Not so, my lord ; I am too much i' the sun. 

Queen. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour 
off, 68 

And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. 
Do not for ever with thy vailed lids 
Seek for thy noble father in the dust: 

47 native: closely and congenitally connected 

48 instrumental: serviceable 50 Dread my lord: my dread lord 
51 \&Si\G and iavour: kind permission 

56 leave and pardon: indulgence \_to depart] 

60 hard: given with difficulty 63 graces: virtues 

65 kin . . . kind; cf. n. 67 i' the sun; cf. n. 70 vailed: down-cast 



Prince of Denmark ^ I. ii i^ 

Thou know'st 'tis common ; all that lives must die, 72 
Passing through nature to eternity. 

Ham. Ay, madam, it is common. 

Queen. If it be, 

Why seems it so particular with thee? 

Ham. Seems, madam! Nay, it is; I know not 
'seems.' 76 

'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother. 
Nor customary suits of solemn black, 
Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath. 
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 80 

Nor the dejected haviour of the visage. 
Together with all forms, moods, shows of grief. 
That can denote me truly; these indeed seem. 
For they are actions that a man might play: 84 

But I have that within which passeth show; 
These but the trappings and the suits of woe. 

King. 'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, 
Hamlet, 
To give these mourning duties to your father: 88 

But, you must know, your father lost a father; 
That father lost, lost his ; and the survivor bound 
In filial obligation for some term 
To do obsequious sorrow ; but to persever 92 

In obstinate condolement is a course 
Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief : 
It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, 
A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, 96 

An understanding simple and unschool'd: 
For what we know must be and is as common 
As any the most vulgar thing to sense, 

72 common: the common lot _ ^ 75 particvilar: personal 

79 windy suspiration: tempestuous sighing forc'd: against one's will 

80 fruitful: co^ioM^ 81 ha\'ionr: behavior 83 denote: portray 
92 obsequious: dutiful 93 condolement: sorrowing 
99 vulgar thing: common experience 



12 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Why should we in our peevish opposition 100 

Take it to heart ? Fie ! 'tis a fault to heaven, 

A fault against the dead, a fault to nature, 

To reason most absurd, whose common theme 

Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried, 104 

From the first corse till he that died to-day, 

*This must be so.' We pray you, throw to earth 

This unprevailing woe, and think of us 

As of a father ; for let the world take note, 108 

You are the most immediate to our throne; 

And with no less nobility of love 

Than that which dearest father bears his son 

Do I impart toward you. For your intent 112 

In going back to school in Wittenberg, 

It is most retrograde to our desire; 

And we beseech you, bend you to remain 

Here, in the cheer and comfort of our eye, 116 

Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son. 

Queen. Let not thy mother lose her prayers, 
Hamlet : 
I pray thee, stay with us ; go not to 'Wittenberg. 

Ham. I shall in all my best obey you, madam. 

King. Why, 'tis a loving and a fair reply: 
Be as ourself in Denmark. Madam, come; 
This gentle and unforc'd accord of Hamlet 
Sits smiling to my heart; in grace whereof, 124 

No jocund health that Denmark drinks to-day. 
But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell. 
And the king's rouse the heavens shall bruit again. 
Re-speaking earthly thunder. Come away. 128 

Exeunt [aZZ except Hamlet.'\ 

IDS corse: corpse 107 unprevailing: unavailing 

109 {mvaedidite: next in succession 112 impart: fe^jfow 

113 Wittenberg; cf. n. 114 retrograde: contrary 115 bend: incline 
127 rouse: bumper bruit: echo 



Prince of Denmark ^ I. ii 13 

Ham. O ! that this too too solid flesh would melt, 
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew; 
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd 
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter ! O God ! O God ! 132 
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable 
Seem to me all the uses of this world. 
Fie on 't ! O fie ! 'tis an unweeded garden, 
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in 

nature 136 

Possess it merely. That it should come to this ! 
But two months dead : nay, not so much, not two : 
So excellent a king; that was, to this, 
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother 140 

That he might not beteem the winds of heaven 
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth ! 
Must I remember? why, she would hang on him. 
As if increase of appetite had grown 144 

By what it fed on ; and yet, within a month. 
Let me not think on 't : Frailty, thy name is woman ! V' 
A little month; or ere those shoes were old 
With which she follow'd my poor father's body. 
Like Niobe, all tears; why she, even she, — 149 

O God ! a beast, that wants discourse of reason. 
Would have mourn'd longer, — married with mine 

uncle, 
My father's brother, but no more like my father 
Than I to Hercules: within a month, 153 

Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears 
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes. 
She married. O ! most wicked speed, to post 
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets. 157 

130 resolve: dissolve 132 canon: law 134 uses: usages 

137 merely: entirely 140 Hyperion; cf. n. 141 beteem: allow 

149 Niobe; c/. w. ISO discourse of reason : r^ajom«fif ^ower 

155 flushing: redness galled: sore with weeping 

156 post: hasten 157 dexterity: facility 



14* The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

It is not nor it cannot come to good; 

But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue ! 

Enter Horatio, Bernardo, and Marcellus. 

Hor. Hail to your lordship ! 

Ham. I am glad to see you well. 160 

Horatio, or I do forget myself. 

Hor. The same, my lord, and your poor servant 
ever. 

Ham. Sir, my good friend; I'll change that name 
with you. 
And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio? 
Marcellus ? 165 

Mar. My good lord, — 

Ham. I am very glad to see you. [To Bernardo.^ 
Good even, sir. 
But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg? 

Hor. A truant disposition, good my lord. 169 

Ham. I would not hear your enemy say so. 
Nor shall you do mine ear that violence. 
To make it truster of your own report 172 

Against yourself; I know you are no truant. 
But what is your affair in Elsinore? 
We'll teach you to drink deep ere you depart. 

Hor. My lord, I came to see your father's 
funeral. 176 

Ham. I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow-student ; 
I think it was to see my mother's wedding. 

Hor. Indeed, my lord, it foUow'd hard upon. 

Ham. Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral bak'd 
meats 180 

Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. 
Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven 

161 forget myself; c/. n. 169 disposition: temperament, mood 

180 bak'd meats: meat pies; cf. n. 182 dearest: direst 



Prince of Denmark ^ I, ii ^^ 

Ere I had ever seen that day, Horatio ! 

My father, methinks I see my father. 184 

Hor. O ! where, my lord ? 

Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatio. 

Hor. I saw him once; he was a goodly king. 
>/ Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all, 
I shall not look upon his like again. 188 

Hor. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. 

Ham. Saw? Who? 

Hor. My lord, the king your father. 

Ham. The king, my father? 

Hor. Season your admiration for a while 192 

With an attent ear, till I may deliver. 
Upon the witness of these gentlemen, 
This marvel to you. 

Ham. For God's love, let me hear. 

Hor. Two nights together had these gentlemen, 196 
Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch. 
In the dead vast and middle of the night, 
Been thus encounter'd: a figure like your father, 
Arm'd at all points exactly, cap-a-pe, 200 

Appears before them, and with solemn march 
Goes slow and stately by them: thrice he walk'd 
By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes, 
Within his truncheon's length; whilst they, dis- 
till'd 204 

Almost to jelly with the act of fear. 
Stand dumb and speak not to him. This to me 
In dreadful secrecy impart they did, 
And I with them the third night kept the watch; 
Where, as they had deliver' d, both in time, 209 

192 Season: temper, qualify admiration: wonder, astonishment 

\9Z ztt&nV. attentive ' 198 vast: waste; cf. n. 
200 cap-z-pe: from head to foot 

204 truncheon: oMcer's staff distill' d: melted 205 act: operation 



16 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Form of the thing, each word made true and good, 
The apparition comes. I knew your father; 
These hands are not more like. 

Ham. But where was this? 

Mar. My lord, upon the platform where we 
watch'd. 213 

Ham. Did you not speak to it ? 

Hor. My lord, I did; 

But answer made it none; yet once methought 
It lifted up it head and did address 216 

Itself to motion, like as it would speak; 
But even then the morning cock crew loud. 
And at the sound it shrunk in haste away 
And vanish'd from our sight. 

Ham. 'Tis very strange. 220 

Hor. As I do live, my honour'd lord, 'tis true; 
And we did think it writ down in our duty 
To let you know of it. 

Ham. Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me. 224 
Hold you the watch to-night? 

Mar. 

Ber. 

Ham. Arm'd, say you? 

^^y,* j- Arm'd, my lord. 

Ham. From top to toe ? 

Mar. ) 

j^ ' r My lord, from head to foot. 

Ham. Then saw you not his face ? 228 

Hor. O yes ! my lord ; he wore his beaver up. 
Ham. What! look'd he frowningly? 
Hor. A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. 
Ham. Pale or red? 232 

229 heaver: face-guard of a helmet 216 it: its 



^ — -_ — ^ — . 

r. ) 

r We do, my lord. 



Prince of Denmark, I, ii 17 

Hor. Nay^ very pale. 

Ham. And fix'd liis eyes upon you ? 

Hor. Most constantly. 

Ham. I would I had been there. 

Hor. It would have much amaz'd you. 

Ham. Very like^ very like. Stay'd it long ? 236 

Hor. While one with moderate haste might tell a 

hundred. 

Mar. ) ^ 

Ber. ) -L-onger, longer. 

Hor. Not when I saw it. 

Ham. His beard was grizzled, no? 

Hor. It was, as I have seen it in his life, 240 

A sable silver'd. 

Ham. I will watch to-night; 

Perchance 'twill walk again. 

Hor. I warrant it will. 

Ham. If it assume my noble father's person, 
I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape 244 

And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all, 
If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight. 
Let it be tenable in your silence still; 
And whatsoever else shall hap to-night, 248 

Give it an understanding, but no tongue : 
I will requite your loves. So, fare you well. 
Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve, 
I'll visit you. 

All. Our duty to your honour. 252 

Ham. Your loves, as mine to you. Farewell. 

Exeunt [all hut Hamlef], 
My father's spirit in arms ! all is not well ; 
I doubt some foul play: would the night were come! 

237 t&\\: count 239 gx'izzl&d: grey 

241 sable: heraldic term for black 247 tenable: that which may be kept 



18 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Till then sit stilly my soul: foul deeds will rise, 256 
Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes. 

Exit, 

Scene Three 

[Polonius* Apartment in the Castle^ 

Enter Laertes and Ophelia. 

Laer. My necessaries are embark'd; farewell: 
And, sister, as the winds give benefit 
And convoy is assistant, do not sleep. 
But let me hear from you. 

Oph. Do you doubt that? 4 

Laer. For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favour, 
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, 
A violet in the youth of primy nature. 
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, 8 

The perfume and suppliance of a minute; 
No more. 

Oph. No more but so? 

Laer. Think it no more: 

For nature, crescent, does not grow alone 
In thews and bulk; but, as this temple waxes, 12 

The inward service of the mind and soul 
Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now, 
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch 
The virtue of his will ; but you must fear, 16 

His greatness weigh' d, his will is not his own. 
For he himself is subject to his birth; 
He may not, as unvalu'd persons do, 

2 give benefit: are favorable 3 convoy: means of conveyance 

6 fashion : mere form toy in blood : passing amorous fancy 

7 violet; cf. n. primy: early 8 Forward: precocious 
9 suppliance: diversion 11 crescent: firrown^r 
12 thews: bodily strength temple: body 14 withal: also 

15 soil: blemish cautel: trickery 

16 virtue of his will: his virtuous intentions 19 unvalu'd: of low rank 



Prince of Denmark, I, Hi 19 

Carve for himself, for on his choice depends 20 

The safety and the health of the whole state; 
And therefore must his choice be circumscrib'd 
Unto the voice and yielding of that body 
Whereof he is the head. Then if he says he loves 
you, 24 

It fits your wisdom so far to believe it 
As he in his [particular act and place] 
May give his saying deed; which is no further 
Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal. 28 

Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain, 
If with too credent ear you list his songs, 
Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open 
To his unmaster'd importunity. 32 

Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister ; 
And keep you in the rear of your affection. 
Out of the shot and danger of desire. 
The chariest maid is prodigal enough 36 

If she unmask her beauty to the moon; 
Virtue herself 'scapes not calumnious strokes; 
The canker galls the infants of the spring 
Too oft before their buttons be disclos'd, 40 

And in the morn and liquid dew of youth 
Contagious blastments are most imminent. 
Be wary then; best safety lies in fear: 
Youth to itself rebels, though none else near. 44 

Oph. I shall th' effect of this good lesson keep. 
As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother. 
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, 

23 voice and yielding: approval and compliance 

26 place: position as a prince; cf. n. 27 deed: effect 

30 credent: trustful list: listen to 

32 nnmastev' d: unrestrained 36 chariest: most scrupulous 

39 canker: 'worm,' that destroys leaves and buds, particularly the rose 
galls: injures infants: young plants 

40 buttons: buds disclos'd: opened 

41 liquid dew: while the dew is still fresh 42 blastments: blights 
47 ungracious: graceless 



20 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, 
Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine, 49 

Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads. 
And recks not his own rede. 

Laer, O ! fear me not. 

Enter Polonius. 

I stay too long; but here my father comes. 52 

A double blessing is a double grace; 

Occasion smiles upon a second leave. 

Pol. Yet here, Laertes ! aboard, aboard, for shame ! 

The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail, 56 

And you are stay'd for. There, my blessing with 
thee! 

And these few precepts in thy memory 
^ Look thou character. ^ Give thy thoughts no tongue. 

Nor any unproportion'd thought his act. 60 

j Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar; 
i The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried. 

Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel; 

But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 64 

Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade. Beware 

Of entrance to a quarrel, but, being in, 

Bear 't that th' opposed may beware of thee. 

Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice ; 68 

Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. 

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy. 

But not express'd in fancy ; rich, not gaudy ; 

For the apparel oft proclaims the man, 72 

49 pufi'd : bloated from excess 

50 primrose psith.: path of pleasure 51 recks: heeds rede: counsel 
S3 double; cf. n. 54 Occasion: opportunity 56 wind . . . oi; cf. n. 
58 precepts; cf. n. 59 character: inscribe 
60 unproportion'd: inordinate ^ 61 ia.m\\{3ir: friendly 

64 dull thy palm: make thy palm less sensitive to true hospitality 

65 un^ed^'d: immature _ 69 censure: o/Jtmon 
71 express'd in fancy: singular in design 



Prince of Denmark,, I. Hi 21 

And they in France of the best rank and station 
Are most select and generous^ chief in that. 
Neither a borrower, nor a lender be ; 
For loan oft loses .both itself and friend, 76 

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 
This above all: to thine own self be true, 
^ And it must follow, as the night the day, 
\ Thou canst not then be false to any man. 80 

Farewell; my blessing season this in thee! 

Laer. Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord. 

Pol. The time invites you; go, your servants tend. 

Laer. Farewell, Ophelia; and remember well 
What I have said to you. 

Oph. 'Tis in my memory lock'd, 

And you yourself shall keep the key of it. 86 

Laer. Farewell. Exit Laertes. 

Pol. What is 't, Ophelia, he hath said to you? 

Oph. So please you, something touching the Lord 
Hamlet. 

Pol. Marry, well bethought: 
*Tis told me, he hath very oft of late 
Given private time to you ; and you yourself 92 

Have of your audience been most free and bounteous. 
If it be so, — as so 'tis put on me. 
And that in way of caution, — I must tell you. 
You do not understand yourself so clearly 96 

As it behoves my daughter and your honour. 
What is between you.^ give me up the truth. 

Oph. He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders 
Of his affection to me. 100 

74 Are . . . that; cf. n. 77 husbandry: thrift 

83 tend: are in waiting 

90 Marry: an oath derived from the name of Saint Mary 

92 private time: time in private visits 

94 put on: impressed on 99 tenders: offers; cf. n. 



22 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Pol. Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl. 
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. 
Do you believe his tenders, as you call them? 

Oph. I do not know, my lord, what I should 
think. 104 

Pol. Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby. 
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay. 
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly ; 
Or, — not to crack the wind of the poor phrase. 
Roaming it thus, — you'll tender me a fool. 109 

Oph. My lord, he hath importun'd me with love 
In honourable fashion. 

Pol. Ay, fashion you may call it : go to, go to. 

Oph. And hath given countenance to his speech, 
my lord, 113 

With almost all the holy vows of heaven. 

Pol. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know. 
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul 116 

Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter. 
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both. 
Even in their promise, as it is a-making. 
You must not take for fire. From this time 120 

Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence; 
Set your entreatments at a higher rate 
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet, 
Believe so much in him, that he is young, 124 

And with a larger tether may he walk 
Than may be given you : in few, Ophelia, 
Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers. 
Not of that dye which their investments show, 

101 green: inexperienced 

102 Xjnsiittd.: untried ciYCum.st2ince.: state of affairs 
107 sterling: legal currency Tender: have a regard for 
lis springes: snares woodcocks; cf. n. 

122 entreatments: conversations, interviews 

126 in few: briefly 127 brokers: go-betweens, procurers 

128 investments: vestments, clothes 



Prince of Denmark ^ I. iv 23 

But mere implorators of unholy suits, 129 

Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds, 
The better to beguile. This is for all : 

1 would not, in plain terms, from this time forth. 
Have you so slander any moment's leisure, 133 
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. 
Look to 't, I charge you; come your ways. 

Oph. I shall obey, my lord. Exeunt. 

Scene Four 

[A Platform of the Castle^ 

Enter Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus. 

Ham. The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold. 
Hor. It is a nipping and an eager air. 
Ham. What hour now ? 

Hor. I think it lacks of twelve. 

Mar. No, it is struck. 4 

Hor. Indeed? I heard it not: then it draws near 
the season 
Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk. 

A flourish of trumpets, and two pieces [o/ 
ordnance^ go off. 
What does this mean, my lord.f* 

Ham. The king doth wake to-night and takes his 
rouse, 8 

Keeps wassail, and the swaggering up-spring reels; 
And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down. 
The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out 
The triumph of his pledge. 

129 implorators: solicitors 133 slander: bring reproach upon 

2 eager: sharp _ 8 wake: hold a revel by night 

9 Keeps wassail: holds a drinking-bout up-spring: wild dance of 
German origin 

10 Rhenish: Rhine zvine 12 pledge: toast 



24 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Hor. Is it a custom? 12 

Ham. Ay, marry, is 't: 
But to my mind, — though I am native here 
And to the manner born, — it is a custom 
More honour'd in the breach than the observance. 16 
[This heavy-headed revel east and west 
Makes us traduc'd and tax'd of other nations ; 
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase 
Soil our addition; and indeed it takes 20 

From our achievements, though perform'd at height. 
The pith and marrow of our attribute. 
So, oft it chances in particular men. 
That for some vicious mole of nature in them, 24 

As, in their birth, — wherein they are not guilty. 
Since nature cannot choose his origin, — 
By the o'ergrowth of some complexion. 
Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason, 
Or by some habit that too much o'er-leavens 29 

The form of plausive manners ; that these men. 
Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect. 
Being nature's livery, or fortune's star, 32 

Their virtues else, be they as pure as grace. 
As infinite as man may undergo. 
Shall in the general censure take corruption 
From that particular fault: the dram of eale 36 

Doth all the noble substance of a doubt. 
To his own scandal.] 

Enter Ghost. 

18 traduc'd and tax'd: defamed and censured 

19 clepe: call swinish.: gross 

20 Soil our addition: blemish our good name 22 attribute: reputation 
24 mole: blemish 26 his; cf. n. 27 complexion: natural tendency 
28 pales: palings _ 29 o'er-leavens: makes too light 
30 plausive: pleasing 

32 nature's livery: natural attributes fortune's star: the position in 

which one is placed by fortune 
34 undergo: bear the weight of 36 dram of eale; cf. n. 



Prince of Denmark^ I, iv 25 

Hor. Look, my lord, it comes. 

Ham, Angels and ministers of grace defend us ! 
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, 40 

Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, 
Be thy intents wicked or charitable, 
Thou com'st in such a questionable shape 
That I will speak to thee: I'll call thee Hamlet, 
King, father, royal Dane; O! answer me: 45 

Let me not burst in ignorance; but tell 
Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death. 
Have burst their cerements ; why the sepulchre. 
Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn'd, 49 

Hath op'd his ponderous and marble jaws. 
To cast thee up again. What may this mean. 
That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel 52 

Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon. 
Making night hideous; and we fools of nature 
So horridly to shake our disposition 
With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls } 56 

Say, why is this } wherefore } what should we do ? 

Ghost hechons Hamlet. 

Hor. It beckons you to go away with it. 
As if it some impartment did desire 
To you alone. 

Mar. Look, with what courteous action 60 

It waves you to a more removed ground: 
But do not go with it. 

Hor. No, by no means. 

Ham. It will not speak ; then, will I follow it. 

39 ministers of grace: messengers of God 

40 s'^ir'itoi health: good spirit _ gohlin: evil spirit 
43 questionable: inviting question 

47 canoniz'd: buried according to the Church's rule hearsed: coMned 

48 cerements: grave-clothes 49 inurn'd: interred 
53 glimpses of the moon: the earth by night 

56 reaches: capacities 59 impartment: communication 



26 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Hor. Do not, my lord. 

Ham. Why, what should be the fear? 64 

I do not set my life at a pin's fee; 
And for my soul, what can it do to that. 
Being a thing immortal as itself? 
It waves me forth again; I'll follow it. 68 

Hor. What if it tempt you toward the flood, my 
lord. 
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff 
That beetles o'er his base into the sea. 
And there assume some other horrible form, 72 

Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason 
And draw you into madness ? think of it ; 
[The very place puts toys of desperation. 
Without more motive, into every brain 76 

That looks so many fathoms to the sea 
And hears it roar beneath.] 

Ham. It wafts me still. Go on, I'll follow thee. 

Mar. You shall not go, my lord. 

Ham. Hold off your hands ! 80 

Hor. Be rul'd; you shall not go. 

Ham. My fate cries out. 

And makes each petty artery in this body 
As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve. 
Still am I call'd. Unhand me, gentlemen, 84 

[Breaking from t}iem.~\ 
By heaven! I'll make a ghost of him that lets me: 
I say, away ! Go on, I'll follow thee. 

Exeunt Ghost and Hamlet. 

Hor. He waxes desperate with imagination. 

Mar. Let's follow; 'tis not fit thus to obey him. 88 

65 at . . . i&&: at even a trifling value 69 flood: .yeo 

71 beetles: overhangs threateningly 

73 deprive . . . reason: dethrone reason from its sovereignty 

75 toys of desperation: whims involving thoughts of self-destruction 

83 Nemean lion's; c/. n. ner\e: sinew, tendon 85 lets: hinders 



Prince of Denmark, I,v 27 

Hor. Have after. To what issue will this come? 
^Mar. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. 
Hor. Heaven will direct it. 

Mar. Nay, let's follow him. 

Exeunt. 

Scene Five 
' [A more remote Part of the Platform^ 
Enter Ghost and Hamlet. 

Ham. Whither wilt thou lead me? speak; I'll go no 
further. 

Ghost. Mark me. 

Ham. I will. 

Ghost. My hour is almost come. 

When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames 
Must render up myself. 

Ham. Alas ! poor ghost. 4 

Ghost. Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing 
To what I shall unfold. 

Ham. Speak; I am bound to hear. 

Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear. 

Ham. What? 8 

Ghost. I am thy father's spirit ; 
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night. 
And for the day confin'd to fast in fires. 
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature 
Are burnt and purg'd away. But that I am forbid 13 
To tell the secrets of my prison-house, 
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word 
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, 16 
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, 

89 issue: outcome 17 spheres: orbits 



28 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Thy knotted and combined locks to part. 

And each particular hair to stand an end, 

Like quills upon the fretful porpentine: 20 

But this eternal blazon must not be 

To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O list ! 

If thou didst ever thy dear father love — 

Ham. O God! 24 

Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural 
murder. 

Ham. Murder! 

Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is ; 
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. 28 

Ham. Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as 
swift 
As meditation or the thoughts of love, 
'^May sweep to my revenge. 

Ghost. I find thee apt; 

And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed 
That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, 33 

Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear: 
'Tis given out that, sleeping in mine orchard, 
A serpent stung me ; so the whole ear of Denmark 36 
Is by a forged process of my death 
Rankly abus'd; but know, thou noble youth. 
The serpent that did sting thy father's life 
Now wears his crown. 

Ham. O my prophetic soul! 40 

My uncle ! 

Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, 

18 knotted: neatly arranged comhined: smoothly combed 

19 an: on 20 porpentine: porcupine 
21 eternal blazon: revelation of eternity ; cf.n. 

25 unnatural: i.e., for one brother to kill another 

31 apt: ready to learn 32 fat weed; cf. n. 

33 Lethe; cf. n. wharf: bank 35 orchard: garden 

37 process: narrative 38 abus'd: deceived 42 adulterate: adulterous 



Prince of Denmark^ /. v 29 

With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts, — 
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power 44 

So to seduce ! — won to his shameful lust 
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. 

Hamlet ! what a f alling-oif was there ; 

From me, whose love was of that dignity 48 

That it went hand in hand even with the vow 

1 made to her in marriage; and to decline 
Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor 

To those of mine ! 52 

But virtue, as it never will be mov'd. 

Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, 

So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd. 

Will sate itself in a celestial bed, 56 

And prey on garbage. 

But, soft! methinks I scent the morning air; 

Brief let me be. Sleeping within mine orchard. 

My custom always in the afternoon, 60 

Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole. 

With juice of cursed hebona in a vial. 

And in the porches of mine ears did pour 

The leperous distilment; whose effect 64 

Holds such an enmity with blood of man 

That swift as quicksilver it courses through 

The natural gates and alleys of the body. 

And with a sudden vigour it doth posset 68 

And curd, like eager droppings into milk. 

The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine; 

And a most instant tetter bark'd about. 

Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, 

All my smooth body. 73 

62 hebona: yew, notorious for its poisonous properties 

64 leperous : causing leprosy 

67 gates and alleys ; c/. n. 68 posset: curdle 69 eager: sour 

71 instant: instantaneous tetter: skin eruption 

72 lazar-like: leprous-like 



30 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand, 
Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd; 
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, 76 

Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd. 
No reckoning made, but sent to my account 
With all my imperfections on my head: 
O, horrible ! O, horrible ! most horrible ! 80 

If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not ; 
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be 
A couch for luxury and damned incest. 
But, howsoever thou pursu'st this act, 84 

Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive 
Against tfiy mother aught; leave her to heaven. 
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge. 
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once ! 
The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, 89 

And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire ; 
Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me. Exit. 

Ham. O all you host of heaven ! O earth ! What 

else } 92 

And shall I couple hell? O fie! Hold, hold, my 

heart ! 
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old. 
But bear me stiffly up ! Remember thee ! 
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat 
In this distracted globe. Remember thee! 97 

Yea, from the table of my memory 
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records, 

75 dispatch'd : bereft 

n Unhousel'd: without having received the Holy Communion disap- 
pointed: unprepared unanel'd: without having received extreme 
unction 
78 rec]!ionm^'. confession and absolution 80 horrible; cf.n, 
83 luxury: lasciviousness 89 matin: morning 
90 nn&fi&ctaa.\: losing its effect 97 distracted globe : con/«^ed /lead 
98 table: writing-tablet 99 iond: foolish 



Prince of Denmark, I,v 3i 

All saws of books^ all forms^ all pressures past, 

That youth and observation copied there; 101 

And thy commandment all alone shall live 

Within the book and volume of my brain, 

Unmix'd with baser matter : yes, by heaven ! 104 

O most pernicious woman ! 

villain, villain, smiling, damned villain ! 

My tables, my tables, — meet it is I set it down. 
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain ; 
At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark: 109 

[Writing.^ 
So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word; 
It is, 'Adieu, adieu! remember me.' 

1 have sworn 't. 112 
Hor. and Mar. (Within.^ My lord! my lord! 

Enter Horatio and Marcellus. 
Mar. Lord Hamlet ! 

Hor. Heaven secure him! 

Mar. So be it! 
Hor. Hillo, ho, ho, my lord ! 
Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy ! come, bird, come. 
Mar. How is 't, my noble lord? 
Hor. What news, my lord? 117 

Ham. O! wonderful. 

Hor. Good my lord, tell it. 

Ham. No; you will reveal it. 
Hor. Not I, my lord, by heaven ! 
Mar. Nor I, my lord. 120 

Ham. How say you, then ; would heart of man once 
think it? 
But you'll be secret? 

100 saws: maxims pressures: impressions — as of a seal 
110 word: watch-zvord 115 liillo, ho, ho: falconer's hunting call 

116 come, bird, come: call which falconers use to their hawk in the 
air 



32 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

jyr^^* [ Ay, by heaven, my lord. 

Ham. There's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Den- 

- mark, 
But he 's an arrant knave. 124 

Hor. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from 
the grave. 
To tell us this. 

Ham. Why, right; you are i' the right; 

And so, without more circumstance at all, 
I hold it fit that we shake hands and part; 128 

You, as your business and desire shall point you, — 
For every man hath business and desire. 
Such as it is, — and, for mine own poor part. 
Look you, I'll go pray. 132 

Hor. These are but wild and hurling words, my 
lord. 

Ham. I am sorry they offend you, heartily ; 
Yes, faith, heartily. 

Hor. There's no offence, my lord. 

Ham. Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, 
Horatio, 136 

And much offence, too. Touching this vision here. 
It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you ; 
For your desire to know what is between us, 
O'ermaster 't as you may. And now, good friends, 140 
As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers. 
Give me one poor request. 

Hor. What is 't, my lord ? we will. 

Ham. Never make kuown what you have seen to- 
night. 144 

124 arrant: thoroughgoing 

127 without more circumstance: without further details 

133 hurling: violent 136 Saint Patrick; cf. n. 

138 honest ghost; cf. n. 140 O'ermaster 't: conquer it 



Prince of Denmark ^ I,v 33 

^ ' r My lord, we will not. 

Ham. Nay, but swear 't. 

Hor. In faith. 

My lord, not I. 

Mar. Nor I, my lord, in faith. 

Ham. Upon my sword. 

Mar. We have sworn, my lord, already. 

Ham. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed. 148 

Ghost. Swear. Ghost cries under the stage. 

Ham. Ah, ha, boy! sayst thou so? art thou there, 
true-penny } 
Come on, — you hear this fellow in the cellarage, — 
Consent to swear. 

Hor. Propose the oath, my lord. 152 

Ham. Never to speak of this that you have seen. 
Swear by my sword. 

Ghost. [Beneath.^ Swear. 

Ham. Hie et uhique? then we'll shift our 
ground. 156 

Come hither, gentlemen, 
And lay your hands again upon my sword: 
Never to speak of this that you have heard. 
Swear by my sword. 160 

Ghost. [Beneath.^ Swear. 

Ham. Well said, old mole! canst work i' the earth 
so fast? 

A worthy pioner! once more remove, good friends. 

Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous 
strange ! 164 

Ham. And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. 

150 trtye-penny: honest fellow _ 154 sword; c/. n. 

156 Hie et uhique: here and everywhere 163 pioner: digger, miner 



34 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. 
But come ; 168 

Here, as before, never, so help you mercy. 
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself. 
As I perchance hereafter shall think meet 
To put an antic disposition on, 172 

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall. 
With arms encumber'd thus, or thus, head shake. 
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase. 
As, 'Well, well, we know,' or, 'We could, an if we 
would ;' 176 

Or, 'If we list to speak,' or, 'There be, an if they 

might ;' 
Or such ambiguous giving out, to note 
That you know aught of me : this not to do. 
So grace and mercy at your most need help you. 
Swear. 180 

Ghost. \Beneath.'] Swear. [They swear.'\ 

Ham. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! So, gentlemen, 
With all my love I do commend me to you: 
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is 184 

May do, to express his love and friending to you, 
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together; 
, And still your fingers on your lips, I pray. 
^The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, 188 

That ever I was born to set it right ! 
Nay, come, let's go together. Exeunt. 

167 your; cf. n. 171 meet: proper 172 antic: fantastic 

174 encumber'd: probably /oWgd 175 douhtiul: ambiguous 

177 an if: an intensive form of if 

178 to note: to give a sign 188 spite: vexatious circumstance 



Prince of Denmark, II, i '^ 



ACT SECOND 

Scene One 

[JPolonius' Apartment in the Castle'\ 

Enter Polonius and Reynaldo. 

Pol. Give him this money and these notes, Rey- 
naldo. 

Rey. I will, my lord. 

Pol. You shall do marvellous wisely, good Rey- 
naldo, 
Before you visit him, to make inquiry 4 

Of his behaviour. 

Rey. My lord, I did intend it. 

Pol. Marry, well said, very well said. Look you, 
sir. 
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris; 
And how, and who, what means, and where they 
keep, 8 

What company, at what expense; and finding 
By this encompassment and drift of question 
That they do know my son, come you more nearer 
Than your particular demands will touch it: 12 

Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him; 
As thus, *I know his father, and his friends. 
And, in part, him;' do you mark this, Reynaldo.'* 

Rey. Ay, very well, my lord. 16 

Pol. 'And, in part, him; but,' you may say, 'not 
well : 
But if 't be he I mean, he's very wild. 
Addicted so and so ;' and there put on him 

7 Tfanske-vs: Danes 8 keep: /tVe 

10 &ncom^a.ssia&nt: 'talking round' a subject 12 6.tra?iads: questions 
13 Take: assume 19 put on: impute to 



36 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank 

As may dishonour him; take heed of that; 21 

But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips 

As are companions noted and most known 

To youth and liberty. 

Rey. As gaming, my lord? 24 

Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrel- 

* ling, 
Drabbing; you may go so far. 

Rey. My lord, that would dishonour him. 

Pol. Faith, no; as you may season it in the 
charge. 28 

You must not put another scandal on him. 
That he is open to incontinency ; \ 

That's not my meaning; but breathe his faults so 

quaintly 
That they may seem the taints of liberty, 32 

The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind, 
A savageness in unreclaimed blood. 
Of general assault. 

Rey. But, my good lord, — 

Pol. Wherefore should you do this? 

Rey. A.J, my lord, 36 

I would know that. 

Pol. Marry, sir, here's my drift; 

And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant: 
You laying these slight sullies on my son. 
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i' the working, 40 

Mark you, 

20 forgeries: invented tales rank: excessive 

22 wanton: unrestrained 

26 Drabbing: associating with immoral women 

30 incontinency: habitual loose behavior 31 quaintly: ingeniously 

32 taints of liberty: blemishes due to freedom 

34 unreclaimed: untamed 

35 Of general assault: to which all are liable; cf. n. 

38 ictch oi \f2irxa.nt: justifiable trick 39 snWics: blemishes 



Prince of Denmark^ II. i 37 

Your party in converse, him you would sound, 

Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes 

The youth you breathe of guilty, be assur'd, 44 

He closes with you in this consequence; 

'Good sir,' or so; or 'friend,' or 'gentleman,* 

According to the phrase or the addition 

Of man and country. 

Rey. Very good, my lord. 48 

Pol. And then, sir, does he this, — ^he does, — 
what was I about to saj? By the mass I was 
about to say something: where did I leave .f* 
Rey. At 'closes in the consequence.' 52 

At 'friend or so,' and 'gentleman.' 

Pol. At 'closes in the consequence,' ay, marry; 

He closes with you thus: 'I know the gentleman; 

I saw him yesterday, or t' other day, 56 

Or then, or then ; with such, or such ; and, as you say, 

There was a' gaming ; there o'ertook in 's rouse ; 

There failing out at tennis ;' or perchance, 

'I saw him enter such a house of sale,' 60 

Videlicet, a brothel, or so forth. 

See you now; 

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth; 

And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, 64 

With windlasses, and with assays of bias. 

By indirections find directions out: 

50 by my former lecture and advice 

Shall you my son. You have me, have you not? 
Rey. My lord, I have. 

43 prenominate: aforesaid 

45 closes: agrees consequence: conclusion 

51 leave: leave off 58 a': he o'ertook in 's rouse: drunk 

60 house of sale : house of ill fame 

61 Videlicet : namely ^ _ 64 reach: ability 

65 windlasses: roundabout ways assays of bias: indirect attempts 

66 indirections: devious courses directions: straight courses — i.e., 
the truth 

67 lecture: instruction 



38 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Pol. God be wi' you; fare you well. 69 

Rey. Good my lord ! 

Pol. Observe his inclination in yourself. 
Rey. I shall, my lord. 72 

Pol. And let him ply his music. 
Rey. Well, my lord. 

Pol. Farewell ! Exit Reynaldo. 

Enter Ophelia. 

How now, Ophelia! what's the matter? 

Oph. Alas ! my lord, I have been so affrighted. 

Pol. With what, in the name of God? 76 

Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet. 
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd; 
No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, 
Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ankle; 80 

Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; 
And with a look so piteous in purport 
As if he had been loosed out of hell 
To speak of horrors, he comes before me. 84 

Pol. Mad for thy love? 

Oph. My lord, I do not know; 

But truly I do fear it. 

Pol. What said he? 

Oph. He took me by the wrist and held me hard, 
Then goes he to the length of all his arm, 88 

And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow. 
He falls to such perusal of my face 
As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so; 
At last, a little shaking of mine arm, 92 

And thrice his head thus waving up and down, 

71 inclination in yourself: character for yourself 

7Z ply his music: go his own gait 77 closet: apartment 

78 doublet: close-fitting coat nnhrac'd: unfastened 

80 down-gyved : hanging down like gyves or fetters 

90 perusal: scrutiny 



Prince of Denmark, II, i 39 

He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound 

That it did seem to shatter all his bulk 

And end his being. That done^ he lets me go, 96 

And, with his head over his shoulder turn'd, 

He seem'd to find his way without his eyes ; 

For out o' doors he went without their help. 

And to the last bended their light on me. 100 

Pol. Come, go with me; I will go seek the king. 
This is the very ecstasy of love. 
Whose violent property fordoes itself 
And leads the will to desperate undertakings 
As oft as any passion under heaven 105 

That does afflict our natures. I am sorry. 
What ! have you given him any hard words of late ? 

Oph. No, my good lord; but, as you did com- 
mand, 108 
I did repel his letters and denied 
His access to me. 

Pol. That hath made him mad. 

I am sorry that with better heed and judgment 
I had not quoted him ; I f ear'd he did but trifle. 
And meant to wrack thee; but, beshrew my 
jealousy! 113 

\Bj heaven, it is as proper to our age 
To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions 
As it is common for the younger sort 116 

To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king: 
This must be known; which, being kept close, might 

move 
More grief to hide than hate to utter love. 
Come. Exeunt. 

95 bulk: breast 102 ecstasy: madness 

103 property: nature fordoes: destroys 112 quoted: observed 

113 wrack: ruin beshrew: curse jealousy: suspicion, mistrust 
115 cast beyond: be over subtle 119 More . . . love; cf. n. 



40 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Scene Two 
\_A Room in the Castle^ 

Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, 
with others. 

King. Welcome, dear Eosencrantz and Guilden- 
stern! , 
Moreover that we much did long to see you, 
The need we have to use you did provoke 
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard 
Of Hamlet's transformation; so I call it, 5 

Since nor the exterior nor the inward man 
Resembles that it was. What it should be 
More than his father's death, that thus hath put him 8 
So much from the understanding of himself, 

I cannot dream of: I entreat you both. 

That, being of so young days brought up with him, 

And since so neighbour'd to his youth and humour, 12 

That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court 

Some little time ; so by your companies 

To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather. 

So much as from occasion you may glean, 16 

[Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus,] 

That, open'd, lies within our remedy. 

Queen. Good gentlemen, he hath much talk'd of 
you; 
And sure I am two men there are not living 20 

To whom he more adheres. If it will please you 
To show us so much gentry and good will 
As to expend your time with us awhile. 
For the supply and profit of our hope, 24 

II of so young days : from such early youth 

12 neighbour'd . . . hnmour: near in age and temperament 

13 vouchsafe your rest: please to reside ^ 18 open'd: revealed 
22 s&ntxy: courtesy 24 sxx'^i'g^y and ■profit', aid and successful outcome 



Prince of Denmark, II, ii 4<i 

Your visitation shall receive such thanks 
As fits a king's remembrance. 

Ros. Both your majesties 

Mighty by the sovereign povs^er you have of us^ 
Put your dread pleasures more into command 
Than to entreaty. 

Guil. But we both obey^ 29 

And here give up ourselves, in the full bent. 
To lay our service freely at your feet. 
To be commanded. 32 

King. Thanks, Rosencrantz and gentle Guilden- 
stern. 

Queen. Thanks, Guildenstern and gentle Rosen- 
crantz ; 
And I beseech you instantly to visit 
My too much changed son. Go, some of you, 36 

And bring these gentlemen where Hamlet is. 

Guil. Heavens make our presence, and our practices 
Pleasant and helpful to him ! < 

Queen. Ay, amen ! 

Exeunt Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, \^and some 

Attendants."] 

Enter Polonius. 

Pol. The ambassadors from Norvray, my good 
lord, 40 

Are joyfully return'd. 

King, Thou still hast been the father of good news. 

Pol. Have I, my lord ? Assure you, my good liege, 
I hold my duty, as I hold my soul, 44 

Both to my God, one to my gracious king; 
And I do think — or else this brain of mine 
Hunts not the trail of policy so sure 

30 in the full bent: to the utmost degree of mental capacity 
47 policy: conduct of public affairs 



42 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

As it hath us'd to do— that I have found 48 

The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy. 

King. O ! speak of that ; that do I long to hear. 

Pol. Give first admittance to the ambassadors; 
My news shall be the fruit to that great feast. 52 

King. Thyself do grace to them^ and bring them 
in. l^Exit Polonius.^ 

He tells me, my sweet queen, that he hath found 
The head and source of all your son's distemper. 

Queen. I doubt it is no other but the main; 
His father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage. 

King. Well, we shall sift him. 

Enter Polonius, Voltimand, and Cornelius. 

Welcome, my good friends ! 
Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Norway ? 

Volt. Most fair return of greetings, and desires. 60 
Upon our first, he sent out to suppress 
His nephew's levies, which to him appear'd 
To be a preparation 'gainst the Polack; 
But, better look'd into, he truly found 64 

It was against your highness: whereat griev'd, 
That so his sickness, age, and impotence 
Was falsely borne in hand, sends out arrests 
On Fortinbras; which he, in brief, obeys, 68 

Receives rebuke from Norway, and, in fine. 
Makes vow before his uncle never more 
To give the assay of arms against your majesty. 
Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy, 72 

Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee. 
And his commission to employ those soldiers. 
So levied as before, against the Polack; 

52 fruit: dessert 

56 main: the chief point 67 borne in hand: deluded 

69 in iin&: in conclusion 71 assay: trial 73 iee: payment 



Prince of Denmark^ II, ii 43 

With an entreaty, herein further shown, 76 

\_Giving a paper. ^ 
That it might please you to give quiet pass 
Through your dominions for this enterprise, 
On such regards of safety and allowance 
As therein are set down. 

King. It likes us well; 80 

And at our more consider'd time we'll read, 
Answer, and think upon this business: 
Meantime we thank you for your well-took labour. 
Go to your rest ; at night we'll feast together : 
Most welcome home. 

Exeunt Ambassadors. 

Pol. This business is well ended. 85 

My liege, and madam, to expostulate 
What majesty should be, what duty is. 
Why day is day, night night, and time is time. 
Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time. 
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit. 
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, 
I will be brief. Your noble son is mad: 92 

Mad call I it; for, to define true madness. 
What is 't but to be nothing else but mad? 
But let that go. 

Queen. More matter, with less art. 

Pol. Madam, I swear I use no art at all. 96 

That he is mad, 'tis true ; 'tis true 'tis pity ; 
And pity 'tis 'tis true : a foolish figure ; 
But farewell it, for I will use no art. 
Mad let us grant him, then ; and now remains 
That we find out the cause of this effect, loi 

Or rather say, the cause of this defect, 

79 regards . . . allowance; c/. n. 81 consider'd: fit for considering 

86 expostulate: set forth one's views 90 wit: judgment, understanding 
91 Rourishes: embellishments 98 figure: figure of speech 



44 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

For this effect defective comes by cause; 

Thus it remains, and the remainder thus. 

Perpend. 105 

I have a daughter, have while she is mine; 

Who, in her duty and obedience, mark, 

Hath given me this: now, gather, and surmise. 

The Letter. 
"To the celestial, and my soul's idol, the most beauti- 
fied Ophelia. — " 109 
That's an ill phrase, a vile phrase; 'beautified' 
is a vile phrase; but you shall hear. Thus: 
"In her excellent white bosom, these, &c. — " 112 
Queen. Came this from Hamlet to her? 
Pol. Good madam, stay awhile; I will be faithful. 
"Doubt thou the stars are fire; 

Doubt that the sun doth move ; 116 

Doubt truth to be a liar; 

But never doubt I love. , 

O dear Ophelia ! I am ill at these numbers : 
I have not art to reckon my groans; but that I 
love thee best, O most best ! believe it. Adieu. 

Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst 
this machine is to him, 

Hamlet." 
This in obedience hath my daughter shown me; 
And more above, hath his solicitings. 
As they fell out by time, by means, and place. 
All given to mine ear. 

King. But how hath she 128 

Received his love } 

105 Perpend: consider 109 beautified: beautiful, or, accomplished 

112 these: i.e., these lines 

119 ill at: unskilled at making numbers: verses 

120 reckon: number metrically, scan 

123 machine: bodily frame; cf. n. 126 more above: moreover 

127 fell out: occurred means: opportunities of access 



Prince of Denmark, II, ii 45 

Pol. What do you think of me? 

King. As of a man faithful and honourable. 

Pol. I would fain prove so. But what might you 
think, 131 

When I had seen this hot love on the wing, — 
As I perceiv'd it, I must tell you that. 
Before my daughter told me, — what might you, 
Or my dear majesty, your queen here, think. 
If I had play'd the desk or table-book, 136 

Or given my heart a winking, mute and dumb. 
Or look'd upon this love with idle sight; 
What might you think .^ No, I went round to work. 
And my young mistress thus I did bespeak : 140 

'Lord Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star; 
This must not be :' and then I precepts gave her, 
That she should lock herself from his resort, 
Admit no messengers, receive no tokens. 144 

Which done, she took the fruits of my advice; 
And he, repulsed, — a short tale to make, — 
Fell into a sadness, then into a fast. 
Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, 148 

Thence to a lightness ; and by this declension 
Into the madness wherein now he raves, 
And all we wail for. 

King. Do you think 'tis this ? 

Queen. It may be, very likely. 152 

Pol. Hath there been such a time, — I'd fain know 
that, — 
That I have positively said, ' 'Tis so,' 
When it prov'd otherwise? 

137 winking: with eyes shut, i.e., allowed my heart to connive 

139 round: straightforwardly 140 bespeak: address 

14/ out of thy star: above the position allotted thee by fortune 

14 ? watch: state of sleeplessness 

14) lightness: lightheadedness declension: decline 



46 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

King. Not that I know. 

Pol. Take this from this, if this be otherwise: 

[Pointing to his head and shoulder.^ 
If circumstances lead me, I will find 
Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed 
Within the centre. 

King. How may we try it further ? 

Pol. You know sometimes he walks four hours 
together 160 

Here in the lobby. 

Queen. So he does indeed. 

Pol. At such a time I'll loose my daughter to him; 
Be you and I behind an arras then; 
Mark the encounter; if he love her not, 164 

And be not from his reason fallen thereon. 
Let me be no assistant for a state. 
But keep a farm, and carters. 

King. We will try it. 

Enter Hamlet reading on a hooJc. 
Queen. But look, where sadly the poor wretch 
comes reading. 168 

Pol. Away ! I do beseech you, both away. 
I'll board him presently. 

Exeunt King, Queen, [and Attendants. "[ 
O ! give me leave. 
How does my good Lord Hamlet.^ 

Ham. Well, God a-mercy. 172 

Pol. Do you know me, my lord.f* 
Ham. Excellent well; you are a fishmonger. 
Pol. Not I, my lord. 

Ham. Then I would you were so honest a 
man. 177 

159 centre: middle point of the earth 163 arras: hanging tapestry 

164 encounter: manner of behavior 

170 board: accost presently: immediately 174 fishmonger; of. n. 



Prince of Denmark^ II. ii 47 

Pol. Honesty my lord! 

Ham. Ay, sir ; to be honest, as this world 
goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thou- 
sand. 181 

Pol. That's very true, my lord. 

Ham. For if the sun breed maggots in a dead 
dog, being a good kissing carrion, — Have you a 
daughter .^ 185 

Pol. I have, my lord. 

Ham. Let her not walk i' the sun: conception 
is a blessing; but not as your daughter may con- 
ceive. Friend, look to 't. 189 

Pol. \_Aside.~\ How say you by that? Still 
harping on my daughter: yet he knew me not 
at first; he said I was a fishmonger: he is far 
gone, far gone: and truly in my youth I suffered 
much extremity for love; very near this. I'll 
speak to him again. What do you read, my lord ? 

Ham. Words, words, words. 196 

Pol. What is the matter, my lord? 

Ham. Between who? 

Pol. I mean the matter that you read, my 
lord. 200 

Ham. Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue 
says here that old men have grey beards, that 
their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick 
amber and plum-tree gum, and that they have a 
plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak 
hams: all which, sir, though I most powerfully 
and potently believe, yet I hold it not honesty to 
have it thus set down; for you yourself, sir, 

184 good kissing; cf. n. 187 conception; cf. n. 

197 matter: substance 198 Between who?; cf. n. 

203 purging: discharging 

204 amber . . . gum; cf. n. 207 honesty: decency 



48 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

should be old as I am, if, like a crab, you could 
go backward. 210 

J Pol. [Aside. '\ Though this be madness, yet 
there is method in 't. Will you walk out of the 
air, my lord? 

Ham. Into raiy grave? 214 

Pol. Indeed, that is out o* the air. [Aside.'] 
How pregnant sometimes his replies are ! a 
happiness that often madness hits on, which 
reason and sanity could not so prosperously be 
delivered of. I will leave him, and suddenly 
contrive the means of meeting between him and 
my daughter. My honourable lord, I will most 
humbly take my leave of you. 222 

Ham. You cannot, sir, take from me any 
thing that I will more willingly part withal; 
except my life, except my life, except my life. 

Pol. Fare you well, my lord. [Going.] 

Ham. These tedious old fools ! 

Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Pol. You go to seek the Lord Hamlet; there 

he is. 228 

Ros. [To Polonius.] God save you, sir! 

[Exit Polonius.] 

Guil. Mine honoured lord! 

Ros. My most dear lord! 

Ham. My excellent good friends ! How dost 
thou, Guildenstern ? Ah, Rosencrantz ! Good 
lads, how do ye both ? 234 

Ros. As the indifferent children of the earth. 

216 pregnant: full of meaning 217 happiness: appropriateness 

218 prosperously: successfully 

224 withal: with 235 indiflferent: ordinary, average 



Prince of Denmark,, II. ii 49 

Guil. Happy in that we are not over happy; 
on Fortune's cap we are not the very button. 

Ham. Nor the soles of her shoe? 238 

Ros. Neither, my lord. 

Ham. Then you live about her waist, or in 
the middle of her favours } 241 

Guil. Faith, her privates we. 

Ham. In the secret parts of Fortune ? O ! 
most true ; she is a strumpet. What news ? 244 

Ros. None, my lord, but that the world's 
grown honest. 

Ham. Then is doomsday near; but your news 
is not true. Let me question more in particular: 
what have you, my good friends, deserved at the 
hands of Fortune, that she sends you to prison 
hither } 

Guil. Prison, my lord! 252 

Ham. Denmark's a prison. 

Ros. Then is the world one. 

Ham. A goodly one; in which there are 
many confines, wards, and dungeons, Denmark 
being one o' the worst. 257 

Ros. We think not so, my lord. 

Ham. Why, then, 'tis none to you ; for there is 
nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes 
it so: to me it is a prison. 261 

Ros. Why, then your ambition makes it one; 
'tis too narrow for your mind. 

Ham. O God! I could be bounded in a nut- 
shell, and count myself a king of infinite space, 
were it not that I have bad dreams. 

Guil. Which dreams, indeed, are ambition, 

237 on . . . button; cf. n. 244 strumpet; cf. n. 



50 The Tragedy of Hamlet,, 

for the very substance of the ambitious is merely 
the shadow of a dream. 269 

Ham. A dream itself is but a shadow. 

Ros. Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy 
and light a quality that it is but a shadow's 
shadow. 273 

Ham. Then are our beggars bodies, and our 
monarchs and outstretched heroes the beggars' 
shadows. Shall we to the court } for, by my fay, 
I cannot reason. 277 

y^ -J \ We'll wait upon you. 

Ham. No such matter; I will not sort you 
with the rest of my servants, for, to speak to you 
like an honest man, I am most dreadfully at- 
tended. But, in the beaten way of friendship, 
what make you at Elsinore? 

Ros. To visit you, my lord; no other occa- 
sion. 285 

Ham. Beggar that I am, I am even poor in 
thanks; but I thank you: and sure, dear friends, 
my thanks are too dear a halfpenny. Were you 
not sent for? Is it your own inclining? Is it 
a free visitation? Come, come, deal justly with 
me: come, come; nay, speak. 

Guil. What should we say, my lord? 292 

Ham. Why anything, but to the purpose. 
You were sent for; and there is a kind of con- 
fession in your looks which your modesties have 

272 quality: nature 274 beggars bodies; c/. «. 

275 outstretched: strutting 276 iay: faith 277 reason: argue 

278 wait upon: accompany 279 sort: class 

282 beaten way: ordinary course 

288 too dear a halfpenny; cf.n. 290 iree: voluntary 



Prince of Denmark j II. ii si 

not craft enough to colour: I know the good 
king and queen have sent for you. 297 

Ros. To what end^ my lord? 

Ham. That you must teach me. But let me 
conjure you, by the rights of our fellowship, 
by the consonancy of our youth, by the obli- 
gation of our ever-preserved love, and by what 
more dear a better proposer could charge you 
withal, be even and direct with me, whether 
you were sent for or no ! 305 

Ros. [Aside to Guildenstern.'] What say 

Ham. Nay, then, I have an eye of you. If 
you love me, hold not off. 309 

Guil. My lord, we were sent for. 

Ham. I will tell you why; so shall my antici- 
pation prevent your discovery, and your secrecy 
to the king and queen moult no feather. I have 
of late, — ^but wherefore I know not, — ^lost all my 
mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and 
indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition 
that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a 
sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, 
the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firma- 
ment, this majestical roof fretted with golden 
fire, why, it appears no other thing to me but 
a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. 
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in 
I reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and 

296 colour: disguise 300 conjure: adjure 

301 consonancy of youth: being of the same age 

303 better proposer: more skillful exhorter 

304 even: straightforward 

308 have an eye of you: have an eye upon you 
312 ^Te.\e.nt: precede discovery: disclosure 
319 hra-ve: splendid 320 irctted: adorned 324 faculty: ca^oc»*y 



52 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

moving^ how express and admirable! in action 
how like an angel! in apprehension how like a 
god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of 
animals ! And yet, to me, what is this quintes- 
sence of dust? man delights not me; no, nor 
woman neither, though, by your smiling, you 
seem to say so. 331 

Ros. My lord, there was no such stuff in my 
thoughts. 

Ham. Why did you laugh then, when I said 
'man delights not me?' 335 

Ros. To think, my lord, if you delight not 
in man, what lenten entertainment the players 
shall receive from you: we coted them on the 
way; and hither are they coming, to offer you 
service. 340 

Ham. He that plays the king shall be wel- 
come; his majesty shall have tribute of me; the 
adventurous knight shall use his foil and target; 
the lover shall not sigh gratis; the humorous 
man shall end his part in peace; the clown shall 
make those laugh whose lungs are tickle o' the 
sere; and the lady shall say her mind freely, 
or the blank verse shall halt for 't. What players 
are they? 349 

Ros. Even those you were wont to take delight 
in, the tragedians of the city. 

Ham. How chances it they travel? their 
residence, both in reputation and profit, was 
better both ways. 354 

325 express: well-modelled 326 apprehension: understanding 

328 quintessence; c/. «. 332 stnE: matter 337 lenten: m^c.gr^ 

338 coted: passed 343 foil and target: sword and shield 

344 humorous man: actor of whimsical characters 

345 dovfti: low com,edian 

346 tickle o' the sere: yield easily to any im,pulse; cf. n. 

348 halt: lim,p 353 residence: remaining in one place 



Prince of Denmark, II. ii 53 

Ros. I think their inhibition comes by the 
means of the late innovation. 

Ham. Do they hold the same estimation they 
did when I was in the city? Are they so followed? 

Ros. No_, indeed they are not. 359 

Ham. How comes it? Do they grow rusty? 

Ros. 'Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted 
pace: but there is, sir, an aery of children, little 
eyases, that cry out on the top of question, and 
are most tyrannically clapped for't: these are 
now the fashion, and so berattle the common 
stages, — so they call them, — that many wearing 
rapiers are afraid of goose-quills, and dare scarce 
come thither. 368 

Ham. What! are they children? who main- 
tains 'em? how are they escoted? Will they 
pursue the quality no longer than they can 
sing? will they not say afterwards, if they should 
grow themselves to common players, — as it is 
most like, if their means are no better, — their 
writers do them wrong, to make them exclaim 
against their own succession? 376 

Ros. Faith, there has been much to-do on 
both sides: and the nation holds it no sin to 
tarre them to controversy : there was, for a while, 
no money bid for argument, unless the poet and 
the player went to cuffs in the question. 381 

355 inhihition: formal prohibition 356 innovation; c/. «. 

357 estimation: reputation 362 aery: nest; cf. n. 

363 eya.s&s: young hawks cry . . . question: recite at the highest 
pitch of the voice ; cf. n. 

364 tyrannically: outrageously 

365 berattle: fill with din common stages: public theatres 
267 afraid of goose-quills: afraid of being satirized 

370 escottd.: maintained 371 qnaXity: profession 

3/3 common players: prof essional players 

376 succession: future, or, inheritance 

379 tarre: incite 380 argument: subject-matter, plot 381 cnfis: blows 



54 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Ham. Is it possible ? 

Guil. O! there has been much throwing about 
of brains. 384 

Ham, Do the boys carry it away? 

Ros. Ay, that they do, my lord; Hercules and 
his load too. 387 

Ham. It is not strange; for my uncle is 
King of Denmark, and those that would make 
mows at him while my father lived, give twenty, 
forty, fifty, a hundred ducats a-piece for his 
picture in little. 'Sblood, there is something in 
this more than natural, if philosophy could find 
it out. Flourish for the Players. 

Guil. There are the players. 395 

Ham. Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsi- 
nore. Your hands, come then; the appurtenance 
of welcome is fashion and ceremony: let me 
comply with you in this garb, lest my extent to 
the players — which, I tell you, must show fairly 
outward — should more appear like entertain- 
ment than yours. You are welcome; but my 
uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived. 

Guil. In what, my dear lord.f* . 404 

Ham. I am but mad north-north-west: when 
the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a 
handsaw. 

Enter Polonius. 

Pol. Well be with you, gentlemen ! 408 

385 carry it away: carry the day 386 Hercules and his load; cf. n. 

390 mows: grimaces 391 ducats: gold or silver coins 

392 in little: in miniature 'Shlood: God's blood 

394 Flourish: a trumpet call 

397 appurtenance: proper accompaniment 

399 comply: observe the formalities of courtesy garb: manner 

extent: showing of kindness 
407 handsaw: saw managed with one hand; cf. n. 



Prince of Denmark, II, ii ^^ 

Ham. Hark you, Guildenstern ; and you too; 
at each ear a hearer: that great baby you see 
there is not yet out of his swaddling-clouts. 411 

Ros. Happily he's the second time come to 
them; for they say an old man is twice a child. 

Ham. I will prophesy he comes to tell me 
of the players; mark it. You say right, sir; o' 
Monday morning; 'twas so indeed. 416 

Pol. My lord, I have news to tell you. 

Ham. My lord, I have news to tell you. When 
Roscius was an actor in Rome, — 

Pol. The actors are come hither, my lord. 

Ham. Buzz, buzz ! 421 

Pol. Upon my honour, — 

Ham. Then came each actor on his ass, — 

Pol. The best actors in the world, either for 
tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral- 
comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, 
tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene indi- 
vidable, or poem unlimited: Seneca cannot be 
too heavy, nor Plautus too light. For the law 
of writ and the liberty, these are the only men. 

Ham. O Jephthah, judge of Israel, what a 
treasure hadst thou ! 432 

Pol. What a treasure had he, my lord? 

Ham. Why 

"One fair daughter and no more. 
The which he loved passing well." 436 

Pol. [Aside.] Still on my daughter. 

411 swaddling-clouts: bandages in which newborn children were 

wrapped 
419 Roscius; cf. n. 421 Buzz, buzz: an exclamation of contempt 

427 scene individable; cf. n. 

428 poem unlimited; cf. n. Seneca; cf. n. 

429 Plautus; cf. n. law of writ and the liberty; cf. n. 

431 Jephthah: title of an old ballad; cf. n. 436 passing: surpassing 



56 The Tragedy of Hamlet J, 

Ham. Am I not i' the right, old Jephthah? 

Pol. If you call me Jephthah, my lord, I have 
a daughter that I love passing well. 440 

Ham. Nay, that follows not. 

Pol. What follows, then, my lord? 

Ham. Why, 

"As by lot, God wot." 444 

And then, you know, 

"It came to pass, as most like it was. — " 
The first row of the pious chanson will show you 
more; for look where my abridgments come. 

Enter four or five Players. 

You are welcome, masters; welcome, all. I am 
glad to see thee well: welcome, good friends. 
O, my old friend! Thy face is valanced since I 
saw thee last: comest thou to beard me in 
Denmark ? What ! my young lady and mistress ! 
By 'r lady, your ladyship is nearer heaven than 
when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine. 
Pray God, your voice, like a piece of uncurrent 
gold, be not cracked within the ring. Masters, 
you are welcome. We'll e'en to 't like French 
falconers, fly at anything we see: we'll have a 
speech straight. Come, give us a taste of your 
quality; come, a passionate speech. 461 

First Play. What speech, my lord? 

Ham. I heard thee speak me a speech once, 
I but it was never acted; or, if it was, not above 

446 *as most like it was' : as was most probable 

447 row: stanza, verse, column of print (?) chanson: song 

448 abridgments : means of whiling away the time 
451 valanced: 'curtained,' with a beard 

454 By 'r lady: By our Lady {The Virgin) 

455 chopine: a Venetian raised shoe often worn by actors 

456 uncurrent: not passable as lawful coinage 

457 cracked . . . ring; cf. n. 460 straight: immediately 



Prince of Denmark, II. ii 57 

once; for the play, I remember, pleased not the 
million ; 'twas caviare to the general : but it was — 
as I received it, and others, whose judgments in 
such matters cried in the top of mine — an ex- 
cellent play, well digested in the scenes, set down 
with as much modesty as cunning. I remember 
one said there were no sallets in the lines to 
make the matter savoury, nor no matter in the 
phrase that might indict the author of affecta- 
tion; but called it an honest method, [as whole- 
some as sweet, and by very much more handsome 
than fine.] One speech in it I chiefly loved; 'twas 
Mneas' tale to Dido; and thereabout of it espe- 
cially, where he speaks of Priam's slaughter. 
If it live in your memory, begin at this line: 
let me see, let me see: — 480 

*'The rugged Pyrrhus, like the Hyrcanian beast, — " 

'Tis not so, it begins with Pyrrhus: — 
"The rugged Pyrrhus, he, whose sable arms. 
Black as his purpose, did the night resemble 
When he lay couched in the ominous horse, 485 

Hath now this dread and black complexion smear'd 
With heraldry more dismal ; head to foot 
Now is he total gules ; horridly trick'd 488 

With blood of fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, 
Bak'd and impasted with the parching streets. 
That lend a tyrannous and damned light 
To their vile murders : roasted in wrath and fire, 492 

466 caviare . . . general; cf. n. 

468 cried in the top of: spoke with a louder voice of authority than 

469 digested: arranged; cf. n. 

470 mod&sty: without exaggeration, moderation cnnning: skillin 
technique 

471 sallets . . . savoury; cf. n. 473 indict: convict 
475 handsome; cf. n. 476 fine: elaborately fashioned 
477 Eneas' tale to Dido; cf. n. 481 Hyrcanian; cf. n. 
485 ominous horse; c/. «, 488 gules: r^ii trick'd: spotted 
490 impasted: made into a paste 



58 The Tragedy of Hamlet^ 

And thus o'er-sized with coagulate gore. 
With eyes like carbuncles, the hellish Pyrrhus 
Old grandsire Priam seeks." 

[So proceed you.] 496 

Pol. 'Fore God, my lord, well spoken; with 

good accent and good discretion. 

First Play. "Anon, he finds him 

Striking too short at Greeks; his antique sword. 
Rebellious to his arm, lies where it falls, 500 

Repugnant to command. Unequal match'd, 
Pyrrhus at Priam drives ; in rage strikes wide ; 
But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword 
The unnerved father falls. Then senseless Ilium, 504 
Seeming to feel this blow, with flaming top 
Stoops to his base, and with a hideous crash 
Takes prisoner Pyrrhus' ear : for lo ! his sword. 
Which was declining on the milky head 508 

Of reverend Priam, seem'd i' the air to stick: 
So, as a painted tyrant, Pyrrhus stood. 
And like a neutral to his will and matter. 
Did nothing. 512 

But, as we often see, against some storm, 
A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still. 
The bold winds speechless and the orb below 
As hush as death, anon the dreadful thunder 516 

Doth rend the region; so, after Pyrrhus' pause. 
Aroused vengeance sets him new a-work; 
And never did the Cyclops' hammers fall 
On Mars's armour, forg'd for proof eterne, 520 

493 o'er-sized: covered with something like sise, a kind of glue 

501 Repugnant to: r^^w^tn^ 503 iell: cruel 

504 senseless: without physical sensation 

510 painted tyrant: picture of a tyrant in a tapestry 

511 a. neutral: one indifferent matter: fa^^ 

513 Sigainst: just before 514 rack: mass of cloud 

516 2inon: presently 517 Tcgion: the air 

520 proof eterne: eternal impenetrability 



Prince of Denmark, II, ii ^^ 

With less remorse than Pyrrhus' bleeding sword 

Now falls on Priam. 

Out^ out, thou strumpet, Fortune ! All you gods, 

In general synod, take away her power; 524 

Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel. 

And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven. 

As low as to the fiends !" 

Pol. This is too long. 528 

Ham. It shall to the barber's, with your 
beard. Prithee, say on: he's for a jig or a 
tale of bawdry, or he sleeps. Say on; come to 
Hecuba. 532 

First Play. '*^But who, O ! who had seen the mobled 

queen — " 

Ham. 'The mobled queen?' — 

Pol. That's good; 'mobled cpeen is good. 
First Play. "Run barefoot up and down, threat'ning 

the flames 536 

With bisson rheum ; a clout upon that head 
Where late the diadem stood; and, for a robe, 
About her lank and all o'er-teemed loins, 
A blanket, in the alarm of fear caught up ; 540 

Who this had seen, with tongue in venom steep'd, 
'Gainst Fortune's state would treason have pro- 

nounc'd : 
But if the gods themselves did see her then, 
When she saw Pyrrhus make malicious sport 
In mincing with his sword her husband's limbs, 545 

524 synod: assembly 

525 fellies: the pieces of wood of which the circumference is made 

526 nave: hub 

530 jig: lively dance, often accompanied by coarse comic verses or 
dialogue 

531 hawdvy: indecency 532 Hecuba; c/. «. 
533 mohl&d: muffled; cf. n. 

537 bisson rheum: blinding tears (?) _ clout: piece of cloth 
539 o'er-teemed: exhausted by excessive child-bearing 
542 pronounc'd: proclaimed 



60 The Tragedy of Hamlet^ 

The instant burst of clamour that she made — 

Unless things mortal move them not at all — 

Would have made milch the burning eyes of 

heaven, 548 

And passion in the gods." 

Pol. Look ! wh'er he has not turned his colour 
and has tears in 's eyes. Prithee, no more. 551 

Ham. 'Tis well; I'll have thee speak out the 
rest soon. Good my lord, will you see the players 
well bestowed? Do you hear, let them be well 
used; for they are the abstracts and brief chroni- 
cles of the time: after your death you were bet- 
ter have a bad epitaph than their ill report while 
you live. 

Pol. My lord, I will use them according to 
their desert. 560 

Ham. God's bodikins, man, much better; use 
every man after his desert, and who should 'scape 
whipping? Use them after your own honour and 
dignity: the less they deserve, the more merit is 
in your bounty. Take them in. 565 

Pol. Come, sirs. 

Ham. Follow him, friends: we'll hear a play 
to-morrow. Exit Polonius, [with all the Players 
hut the First.'] Dost thou hear me, old friend; 
can you play the Murder of Gonzago? 570 

First Play. Ay, my lord. 

Ham. We'll ha 't to-morrow night. You could, 
for a need, study a speech of some dozen or six- 
teen lines, which I would set down and insert 
in 't, could you not ? 

548 made milch: made weep '550 turned . . . colour : grown pale 

554 bestowed: lodged 555 abstracts: summary accounts 

561 God's bodikins; cf. n. 
573 for a need: in case of necessity dozen or sixteen lines; cf. n. 



Prince of Denmark, II. ii 6i 

First Play. Ay, my lord. 576 

Ham. Very well. Follow that lord; and look 
you mock him not. [Exit First Player. To Ro- 
sencrantz and Guildenstern.^ My good friends, 
I'll leave you till night; you are welcome 
to Elsinore. 581 

Ros. Good my lord! 

Exeunt [Rosencrants and Guildenstern.'] 
Ham. Ay, so, God be wi' ye ! Now I am alone. 
O ! what a rogue and peasant slave am 1 : 584 

Is it not monstrous that this player here. 
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion. 
Could force his soul so to his own conceit 587 

That from her working all his visage wann'd. 
Tears in his eyes, distraction in 's aspect, 
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting 
With forms to his conceit.^ and all for nothing! 
For Hecuba ! 592 

What's Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba 
That he should weep for her.^* What would he do 
Had he the motive and the cue for passion 
That I have? He would drown the stage with 
tears, 596 

And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, 
Make mad the guilty and appal the free. 
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed 
The very faculties of eyes and ears. 600 

Yet I, 

A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak. 
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, 

584 peasant: bass 587 conceit: imagination 

590 function: action of the body suiting: fitting 

591 forms: bodily expression 595 cue; cf. n. 597 horrid: horrible 
598 free: free from offence, guiltless 

602 muddy-mettled: dull-spirited peak: mope about 

603 John-a-dreams: dreamy fellow; cf. n. unpregnant of: not 
quickened by 



62 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

And can say nothing ; no, not for a king, 604 

Upon whose property and most dear life 
A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward? 
Who calls me villain ? breaks my pate across ? 
Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face ? 608 

Tweaks me by the nose ? gives me the lie i' the throat, 
As deep as to the lungs ? Who does me this ? 
Ha! 

Swounds, I should take it, for it cannot be 612 

But I am pigeon-liver' d, and lack gall 
To make oppression bitter, or ere this 
I should have fatted all the region kites 
With this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain! 
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless vil- 
lain ! 617 
O ! vengeance ! 

Why, what an ass am I ! This is most brave 
That I, the son of a dear [father] murder'd, 620 

Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, 
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words. 
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab, 
A scullion! 624 

Fie upon 't ! f oh ! About, my brain ! I have heard. 
That guilty creatures sitting at a play 
Have by the very cunning of the scene 
Been struck so to the soul that presently 628 

They have proclaim'd their malefactions ; 
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak 
With most miraculous organ. Ill have these players 

605 property; cf. n. 606 defeat: destruction 

612 Swounds: God's wounds 

613 But: but that pigeon-liver'd: meek; cf. n. 

614 make oppression bitter: make me feel the bitterness of oppression 

615 region kites: kites of the air 617 kindless: unnatural 
623 drab: street woman 624 scullion: kitchen servant 
625 About, my brain: bestir yourself, my brain, or, my brain, on 

another tack 



Prince of Denmark ^ III, i 63 

Play something like the murder of my father 632 

Before mine uncle; I'll observe his looks; 

I'll tent him to the quick: if he but blench 

I know my course. The spirit that I have seen 

May be the devil: and the devil hath power 636 

To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps 

Out of my weakness and my melancholy — 

As he is very potent with such spirits — 

Abuses me to damn me. I'll have grounds 640 

More relative than this : the play's the thing 

Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king. Exit. 

ACT THIRD 

Scene One 

[A Room in the Castle^ 

Enter King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrants, 
Guildenstern, and Lords. 

King. And can you, by no drift of circumstance. 
Get from him why he puts on this confusion, 
Grating so harshly all his days of quiet 
With turbulent and dangerous lunacy .f* 4 

Ros. He does confess he feels himself distracted; 
But from what cause he will by no means speak. 

Guil. Nor do we find him forward to be sounded. 
But, with a crafty madness, keeps aloof, 8 

When we would bring him on to some confession 
Of his true state. 

Queen. Did he receive you well .^ 

634 tent', probe hlench.: start aside 639 spirits: mental moods 

641 relative: relevant, to the purpose 

1 drift of circumstance: roundabout method 

2 confusion : mental agitation 

3 Grating: harassing 7 forward: ready, disposed 



64 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Ros. Most like a gentleman. 

Guil. But with much forcing of his disposition. 12 

Ros. Niggard of question^ but of our demands 
Most free in his reply. 

Queen. Did you assay him 

To any pastime .f* 

Ros. Madam^ it so fell out that certain players 16 
We o'er-raught on the way; of these we told him, 
And there did seem in him a kind of joy 
To hear of it: they are about the court. 
And, as I think, they have already order 20 

This night to play before him. 

Pol. 'Tis most true; 

And he beseech'd me to entreat your majesties 
To hear and see the matter. 

King. With all my heart ; and it doth much content 
me 24 

To hear him so inclin'd. 
Good gentlemen, give him a further edge. 
And drive his purpose on to these delights. 

Ros. We shall, my lord. 

Exeunt [RosencrantB and Guildenstern.'\ 

King. Sweet Gertrude, leave us too; 

For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither, 29 

That he, as 'twere by accident, may here 
Affront Ophelia. 

Her father and myself, lawful espials, 32 

Will so bestow ourselves, that, seeing, unseen. 
We may of their encounter frankly judge, 
And gather by him, as he is behav'd, 

12 forcing of his disposition: with apparent unwillingness 

13 niggard of question: sparing of conversation 

14 assay: challenge 17 o'er-raught: overtook 
26 edge: incitement 29 closely: privately 
31 Affront: meet 32 espials: spies 34 irankly: freely 



Prince of Denmark ^ III, i 65 

If 't be the affliction of his love or no 36 

That thus he suffers for. 

Queen. I shall obey you. 

And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish 
That your good beauties be the happy cause 
Of Hamlet's wildness ; so shall I hope your virtues 40 
Will bring him to his wonted way again. 
To both your honours. 

Oph. Madam, I wish it may. 

[Ea;it Queen.'] 

Pol. Ophelia, walk you here. Gracious, so please 
you. 
We will bestow ourselves. [To Ophelia.'] Read on 
this book; 44 

That show of such an exercise may colour 
Your loneliness. We are oft to blame in this, 
'Tis too much prov'd, that with devotion's visage 
And pious action we do sugar o'er 48 

The devil himself. 

King. [Aside.] O! 'tis too true; 
How smart a lash that speech doth give my con- 
science ! 
The harlot's cheek, beautied with plastering art. 
Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it 52 

Than is my deed to my most painted word: 
O heavy burden ! 

Pol. I hear him coming; let's jvrithdraw, my lord. 

Exeunt [King and Polonius.] 

Enter Hamlet. 

40 wildness: madness 

43 Gracious: a courteous epithet, here used without a substantive 

45 exercise: employment 

47 too much proved: found by too frequent experience 

48 pious action: i.e., implies that Ophelia's book was a hook of devo- 
tions 

52 to: in comparison with 



66 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Ham. To be, or not to be : that is the question : 56 
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer i^; 

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles. 
And by opposing end them ? To die : to sleep ; 
No more; and, by a sleep to say we end 6l 

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks 
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation 
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep ; 64 

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; 
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil. 
Must give us pause. There's the respect 68 

That makes calamity of so long life; 
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time. 
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely. 
The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay, 72 

The insolence of office, and the spurns 
That patient merit of the unworthy takes. 
When he himself might his quietus make 
With a bare bodkin ? who would fardels bear, 76 

To grunt and sweat under a. weary life. 
But that the dread of something after death. 
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn 
No traveller returns, puzzles the will, 80 

And makes us rather bear those ills we have 
Than fly to others that we know not of? 
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; 

59 take . . . troubles; cf. n. 65 rub: obstacle 

67 shuffled off: sloughed off mortal coil: turmoil of mortal life 

68 give us pause: cause us to hesitate respect: consideration 

72 dispriz'd: held in contempt 

73 o&ce: people holding official position spurns: insults 

75 quietus: release from life 

76 ha.r&: unsheathed, or, small hodkin: dagger iardels: burdens 
79 bourn: boundary 

83 conscience: sense of right and wrong (?), or, thought of conse- 
quences 



Prince of Denmark^ III, i 67 

And thus the native hue of resolution 84 

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought. 

And enterprises of great pith and moment 

With this regard their currents turn awry, 

And lose the name of action. Soft you now ! 88 

The fair Ophelia ! Nymph, in thy orisons 

Be all my sins remember' d. 

Oph. Good my lord, 

How does your honour for this many a day ? 

Ham. I humbly thank you; well, well, well. 

Oph. My lord, I have remembrances of yours. 
That I have longed long to re-deliver; 
I pray you, now receive them. 

Ham. No, not I ; 

I never gave you aught. 96 

Oph. My honour'd lord, you know right well you 

did; 
And, with them, words of so sweet breath compos'd 
As made the things more rich: their perfume lost. 
Take these again ; for to the noble mind 100 

v' Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. 
There, my lord. 

Ham. Ha, ha ! are you honest ? 

Oph. My lord ! 104 

Ham. Are you fair? 

Oph. What means your lordship? 

Ham. That if you be honest and fair, your 
honesty should admit no discourse to your 
beauty. 109 

84 native hue : natural color, or, complexion 

85 sicklied o'er: covered with a sickly tint cast: tinge 

86 pith and moment: gravity and importance ; cf. I. iv. 22 

87 regard: consideration currents: courses 89 orisons: prayers 
91 for this many a day: all this long time 103 honest: chaste 



68 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Oph. Could beauty, my lord, have better com- 
merce than with honesty? 

Ham. Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will 
sooner transform honesty from what it is to a 
bawd than the force of honesty can translate 
beauty into his likeness: this was sometime a 
paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did 
love you once. 117 

Oph. Indeed, my lord, you made me believe 
so. 

Ham. You should not have believed me; for 
virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we 
shall relish of it: I loved you not. 

Oph. I was the more deceived. 123 

Ham. Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst 
thou be a breeder of sinners ? I am myself 
indifferent honest; but yet I could accuse me of 
such things that it were better my mother had 
not borne me. I am very proud, revengeful, 
ambitious; with more offences at my beck than 
I have thoughts to put them in, imagination 
to give them shape, or time to act them in. 
What should such fellows as I do crawling 
between heaven and earth? We are arrant 
knaves, all; believe none of us. Go thy ways to 
a nunnery. Where's your father? 135 

Oph. At home, my lord. 

Ham. Let the doors be shut upon him, that 
he may play the fool nowhere but in 's own 
house. Farewell. 

Oph. O ! help him, you sweet heavens ! 140 

Ham. If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this 

110 commerce: intercourse 116 time: present age 

121 inoculate: engraft 122 relish: taste 

126 indifferent: tolerably 129 beck: command 



Prince of Denmark, III. i ^ 

plague for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, 
as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. 
Get thee to a nunnery, go ; farewell. Or, if thou 
wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men 
- know well enough what monsters you make of 
them. To a nunnery, go; and quickly too. 
Farewell. 148 

Oph. O heavenly powers, restore him! 
Ham. I have heard of your paintings too, 
well enough; God hath given you one face, and 
you make yourselves another: you jig, you 
amble, and you lisp, and nickname God's crea- 
tures, and make your wantonness your ignorance. 
Go to, I'll no more on't; it hath made me mad. 
I say, we will have no more marriages; those 
that are married already, all but one, shall live; 
the rest shall keep as they are. To a nunnery, go. 

Exit Hamlet. 
Oph. O ! what a noble mind is here o'erthrown: 
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, 
sword ; i^^ 

The expectancy and rose of the fair state. 
The glass of fashion and the mould of form, 
The observ'd of all observers, quite, quite down ! 
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, 164 

That suck'd the honey of his music vows. 
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason. 
Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh; 
That unmatch'd form and feature of blown youth 168 

ISO your paintings: i.e., that women paint their faces 

153 nickname: travesty; cf. n. . _ . 

154 make your wantonness your ignorance: i.e., affect ignorance as a 
mask for wantonness . . ^ 

155 on 'f of it 161 expectancy: source of hope 
162 glass: mirror mould: wod^/ 166 sovereign: .y«/'r^m^ 
168 feature: proportion of the whole body blown: blossoming, %n tts 

bloom 



70 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Blasted with ecstasy: O! woe is me. 
To have seen what I have seen, see what I see ! 
Enter King and Polonius. 

King. Love ! his affections do not that way tend ; 
Nor what he spake, though it lack'd form a little, 172 
Was not like madness. There's something in his soul 
O'er which his melancholy sits on brood; 
And, I do doubt, the hatch and the disclose 
Will be some danger ; which for to prevent, 176 

I have in quick determination 

Thus set it down: he shall with speed to England, 
For the demand of our neglected tribute: 
Haply the seas and countries different 180 

With variable objects shall expel 
This something-settled matter in his heart. 
Whereon his brains still beating puts him thus 
From fashion of himself. What think you on 't ? 

Pol. It shall do well : but yet do I believe 185 

The origin and commencement of his grief 
Sprung from neglected love. How now, Ophelia! 
You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said; 
We heard it all. My lord, do as you please; 189 

But, if you hold it fit, after the play. 
Let his queen mother all alone entreat him 
To show his griefs : let her be round with him ; 192 
And I'll be plac'd, so please you, in the ear 
Of all their conference. If she find him not. 
To England send him, or confine him where 
Your wisdom best shall think. 

King. It shall be so : 196 

Madness in great ones must not unwatch'd go. 

Exeunt. 

169 Blasted: withered 175 disclose: hatching 181 variable: various 
182 something-settled: somewhat settled 183 heating: pondering 

184 fashion of himself: his ordinary manner 194 find: find out 



Prince of Denmark^ III, ii 7i 

Scene Two 

[A Hall in the Castle^ 

Enter Hamlet and two or three of the Players. 

Ham. Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pro- 
nounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but 
if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I 
had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor 
do not saw the air too much with your hand, 
thus; but use all gently: for in the very torrent, 
tempest, and — as I may say — whirlwind of 
passion, you must acquire and beget a temper- 
ance, that may give it smoothness. O ! it offends 
me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig- 
pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very 
rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who 
for the most part are capable of nothing but 
inexplicable dumb-shows and noise: I would 
have such a fellow whipped for o'er-doing 
Termagant; it out-herods Herod: pray you, 
avoid it. 17' 

First Play. I warrant your honour. 

Ham. Be not too tame neither, but let your 
own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to 
the word, the word to the action; with this 
specifil observance, that you o erstep not the 
mode^sty of nature; for anything so overdone iS 
from tlie purpose of playing, whose end, both at / 

2 trippingly : rapidly, but with neat articulation 

3 mouth: speak loudly with false emphasis and indistinctness 
8 beget: attain temperance: moderation 

10 robustious: toij^^roM^ periwig-pated: wearing a wig 

12 groundlings; cf. n. 13 capable of: able to receive impressions front 

14 inexplicable dumb-shows; cf. n. 

16 Termagant; cf. n. out-herods Herod; cf. n. 

24 from : apart from 



72 



The Tragedy of Hamlet ^ 



the fii?st and now^ was and is, to hold, as 'twere, 
the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own 
feature, scorn her own image, and the very age 
and body of the time his form and pressure. 
Now, this overdone. Or come tardy off, though it 
make the unskilful laugh, cannot but make the 
judicious grieve; the censure of which one must; 
in your allowance o'erweigh a whole theatre or 
others. O ! there be players that I have seej^ 
play^ and heard others praise, and that higlilyl, 
ripf to speak it profanely, that, neither having 
the accent of Christians nor the gait of Christian, 
pagan, nor man, have so strutted and bellowed 
that I have thought some of nature's journey- 
men had made men and not made them well, 
they imitated humanity so abominably. 40 

First Play. I hope we have reformed that 
indifferently with us, sir. 

Ham. O ! reform it altogether. And let those 
that play your clowns speak no more than is 
set down for them; for there be of them that 
will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of 
barren spectators to laugh too, though in the 
mean time some necessary question of the play 
be then to be considered; that's villainous, and 
shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that 
uses it. Go, make you ready. Exeunt Players. 

Enter Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. 

How now, my lord! will the king hear this piece of 
work ? 52 

28 pressure : impressed character, stamp 

29 come tardy off: inadequately done 

31 which one: one of whom 32 allowance: acknowledgment 

38 journeymen: laborers not yet masters of their trade 

45 there be of them: there are some; cf. n. 47 barren: barren of wit 



Prince of Denmark, III, ii 73 

Pol. And the queen too^ and that presently. 
Ham. Bid the players make haste. Exit Polonius. 
Will you two help to hasten them? 

^ .l C We will, my lord. 56 

Exeunt [RosencrantB and Guildenstern.'] 
Ham. What, ho! Horatio! 

Enter Horatio. 

Hor. Here, sweet lord, at your service. 

Ham. Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man 
As e'er my conversation cop'd withal. 60 

Hor. O ! my dear lord, — 

Ham. Nay, do not think I flatter; 

For what advancement may I hope from thee, 
That no revenue hast but thy good spirits 
To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be 
flatter'd? 64 

No; let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp. 
And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee 
Where thrift may follow fawning. Dost thou hear? 
Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice 
And could of men distinguish, her election 69 

Hath seal'd thee for herself ; for thou hast been 
As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing, 
A man that fortune's buffets and rewards 72 

Hast ta'en with equal thanks ; and bless'd are those 
Whose blood and judgment are so well co-mingled 
That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger 
To sound what stop she please. Give me that man 76 
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him 

59 jnst: balanced _ 60 cop'd withal: came in contact with 

65 candied: flattering 66 pregnant hinges: easily inclined joints 

67 thriit: profit^ _ 69 election: c/toic^ _ 74 hlood: passions 

76 stop: a hole in wind instruments for controlling the sound 



74 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart. 

As I do thee. Something too much of this. 

There is a play to-night before the king; 80 

One scene of it comes near the circumstance 

Which I have told thee of my father's death: 

I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot. 

Even with the very comment of thy soul 84 

Observe mine uncle; if his occulted guilt 

Do not itself unkennel in one speech, 

It is a damned ghost that we have seen. 

And my imaginations are as foul 88 

As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note; 

For I mine eyes will rivet to his face. 

And after we will both our judgments join 

In censure of his seeming. 

Hor. Well, my lord : 92 

If he steal aught the whilst this play is playing. 
And 'scape detecting, I will pay the theft. 

Ham. They are coming to the play ; I must be idle : 
Get you a place. 96 

Enter King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, 
Guildenstern, and other Lords attendant, with his 
Guard carrying torches. Danish March. Sound 
a Flourish. 

King. How fares our cousin Hamlet? 

Ham. Excellent, i' faith; of the chameleon's 
dish: I eat the air, promise-crammed; you can- 
not feed capons so. 100 

King. I have nothing with this answer, Ham- 
let; these words are not mine. 

84 \ery cora.Ta&T\.\.: most intense observation 85 occulted: HJ^f^n 

86 nnk&nn&\: reveal 89 Vulcan; c/. «. stithy • smithy , or , anvil 

92 censure: giving an opinion seeming: appearance 

95 be idle: act mad; cf. n. 98 chameleon's dish; cf. n. 

101 have nothing with: can make nothing of 



75 



Prince of Denmark, III. U 

Ham. No, nor mine now. [To Polonius.] 
My lord, you played once i' the university, you 



Pol. That did I, my lord, and was accounted 
a good actor. 

Ham. And what did you enact? 108 

Pol. I did enact Julius Caesar: I was killed 
i' the Capitol; Brutus killed me. 

Ham. It was a brute part of him to kill so 
capital a calf there. Be the players ready ? 112 

Bos. Ay, my lord; they stay upon your 

patience. 

Queen. Come hither, my good Hamlet, sit by 

116 
me. 

Ham. No, good mother, here's metal more 

attractive. , ^1, 4.a 

Pol. [To the King.] O ho! do you mark that.'' 
Ham. Lady, shall I lie in your lap? ^ 120 
[Lying down at Ophelia's feet.] 

Oph. No, my lord. 

Ham. I mean, my head upon your lap? 
Oph. Ay, my lord. 

Ham. Do you think I meant country matters? 
Oph. I think nothing, my lord. 125 

Ham. That's a fair thought to lie between 
maids' legs. 

Oph. What is, my lord? 128 

Ham. Nothing. 

Oph. You are merry, my lord. 

Ham. Who, I? 

Oph. Ay, my lord. 1^2 

Ham. O God, your only jig-maker. What 

109 Julius C^sar; cf. n. 110 Capitol; cf. n. HI part: action 

113 stay upon: watt for ^^^ metal: material 

114 patience: permission 



76 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

should a man do but be merry? for^ look you^ 
how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father 
died within' s two hours. 136 

Oph. Nay, 'tis twice two months, my lord. 

Ham. So long.'' Nay, then, let the devil wear 
black, for I'll have a suit of sables. O heavens ! 
die two months ago, and not forgotten yet? 
Then there's hope a great man's memory may 
outlive his life half a year ; but, by 'r lady, he 
must build churches then, or else shall he suffer 
not thinking on, with the hobby-horse, whose 
epitaph is, 'For, O ! for, O ! the hobby-horse is 
forgot.' 146 

Hautboys play. The dumb-show enters. 

Enter a King and a Queen, very lovingly; the Queen 
embracing him, and he her. She kneels, and 
makes show of protestation unto him. He takes 
her up, and declines his head upon her neck; lays 
him down upon a bank of flowers: she, seeing 
him asleep, leaves him. Anon comes in a fellow, 
takes off his crown, kisses it, and pours poison in 
the King's ears, and exit. The Queen returns, 
finds the King dead, and makes passionate action. 
The Poisoner, with some two or three Mutes, 
comes in again, seeming to lament with her. The 
dead body is carried away. The Poisoner wooes 
the Queen with gifts; she seems loath and un- 
willing awhile, but in the end accepts his love. 

Exeunt. 
Oph. What means this, my lord? 

139 suit of sables: suit of rich fur 

143 suffer not thinking on : &e /orgrof^en 

144 hobby-horse: one of the participants in the morris dance; cf. n. 
S. d. Hautboys: wooden double-reed instruments of high pitch 

S. d. The dumb-show enters; cf. n. 

S. d. Mutes: actors without speaking parts 



Prince of Denmark, III, it 77 

Ham. Marry, this is miching mallecho; it 
means mischief. 149 

Oph. Belike this show imports the argument 
of the play. 

Enter Prologue. 

Ham. We shall know by this fellow: the 
players cannot keep counsel ; they'll tell all. 153 

Oph. Will he tell us what this show meant? 

Ham. Kj, or any show that you'll show 
him; be not you ashamed to show, he'll not 
shame to tell you what it means. 157 

Oph. You are naught, you are naught. I'll 
mark the play. 

Pro. For us and for our tragedy, 160 

Here stooping to your clemency, 
We beg your hearing patiently. 

Ham. Is this a prologue, or the posy of a 
ring ? 164 

Oph. 'Tis brief, my lord. 

Ham. As woman's love. 

Enter [two Players as] King and his Queen. 

[P.] King. Full thirty times hath Phoebus' cart 
gone round 167 

Neptune's salt wash and Tellus' orbed ground. 
And thirty dozen moons with borrowed sheen 
About the world have times twelve thirties been. 
Since love our hearts and Hymen did our hands 
Unite commutual in most sacred bands. 172 

148 miching mallecho : skulking mischief; cf. n. 

ISO imports: indicates 153 counsel: secret 

158 naught: wanton 161 stooping: bowing 

163 posy: motto, short verse 167 cart: chariot 

168 wash: j^a Tellus'; cf. n. 169 horrovr'd sheen: reflected light 
172 commutual: an intensive form of 'm,utual' 



78 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

[P.] Queen. So many journeys may the sun and 
moon 
Make us again count o'er ere love he done! 
But, woe is me I you are so sick of late, 175 

So far from cheer and from your former state. 
That I distrust you. Yet, though I distrust. 
Discomfort you, my lord, it nothing must; 
For women's fear and love holds quantity. 
In neither aught, or in extremity. 180 

Now, what my love is, proof hath made you know; 
And as my love is siz'd, my fear is so. 
{Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear; 
Where little fears grow great, great love grows 
there.'] 184 

[P.] King. Faith, I must leave thee, love, and 
shortly too; 
My operant powers their functions leave to do: 
And thou shall live in this fair world behind. 
Honour d, belov'd; and haply one as hind 188 

For husband shall thou — 

[P.] Queen. 0! confound the rest; 

Such love must needs be treason in my breast: 
In second husband let me be accurst; 
None wed the second but who kilVd the first. 192 

Ham. [Aside.'] Wormwood^ wormwood. 

[P.] Queen. The instances that second marriage 
move. 
Are base respects of thrift, but none of love; 
A second time I kill my husband dead, 196 

When second husband kisses me in bed. 

177 I distrust you: / have misgivings on your account 

179 quantity: proportion 

180 In . . . extremity: in either no feeling or the very deepest 
186 operant: active 

194 instances: motives, inducements move: suggest 



Prince of Denmark, III, ii ^ 

[P.] King. I do believe you think what now you 
speak; 
But what we do determine oft we break. 
Purpose is but the slave to memory, 200 

Of violent birth, but poor validity; 
Which now, like fruit unripe, sticks on the tree, 
But fall unshaken when they mellow be. 
Most necessary 'tis that we forget 204 

To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt; 
What to ourselves in passion we propose. 
The passion ending, doth the purpose lose. 
The violence of either grief or joy 208 

Their own enactures with themselves destroy; 
Where joy most revels grief doth most lament. 
Grief joys, joy grieves, on slender accident. 
This world is not for aye, nor 'tis not strange. 
That even our loves should with our fortunes 
change; 213 

For 'tis a question left us yet to prove 
Whether love lead fortune or else fortune love. 
The great man down, you mark his favourite flies; 216 
The poor advanc'd makes friends of enemies. 
And hitherto doth love on fortune tend. 
For who not needs shall never lack a friend; 
And who in want a hollow friend doth try 220 

Directly seasons him his enemy. 
But, orderly to end where I begun. 
Our wills and fates do so contrary run 
That our devices still are overthrown, 224 

Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own: 
So think thou wilt no second husband wed; 
But die thy thoughts when thy first lord is dead. 

201 validity: strength 209 enactures: fulfilments 

220 hollow: insincere 225 ends: results 



80 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

[P.] Queen. Nor earth to me give food, nor heaven 
light! 228 

Sport and repose loch from me day and night! 
[To desperation turn m,y trust and hope! 
An anchor's cheer in prison he my scope!'\ 
Each opposite that blanks the face of joy 232 

Meet what I would have well, and it destroy! 
Both here and hence pursue me lasting strife. 
If, once a widow, ever I he wife! 

Ham. If she should break it now ! 236 

[P.] King. 'Tis deeply sworn. Sweet, leave me 
here awhile; 
My spirits grow dull, and fain I would beguile 
The tedious day with sleep. {Sleeps.) 

[P.] Queen. Sleep rock thy brain; 

And never come mischance between us twain! Exit. 
Ham. Madam, how like you this play ? 241 

Queen. The lady doth protest too much, me- 
thinks. 

Ham. O ! but she'll keep her word. 244 

King. Have you heard the argument? Is 
there no offence in 't ? 

Ham. No, no, they do but jest, poison in jest; 
no offence i' the world. 248 

King. What do you call the play? 
Ham. The Mouse-trap. Marry, how? Tro- 
pically. This play is the image of a murder 
done in Vienna: Gonzago is the duke's name; 
his wife, Baptista. You shall see anon; 'tis a 
knavish piece of work: but what of that? your 
majesty and we that have free souls, it touches 

229 Sport: pleasure; cf. n. 231 anchor's: anchorite's 

232 opposite: contrary thing blanks: blanches, makes pale 

242 protest: vow 250 Tropically: figuratively 

251 image: representation 252 duke's name ; c/. «. 



Prince of Denmark ^ III. ii 8i 

us not: let the galled jade wince, our withers are 
unwrung. 257 

Enter [Player as'\ Lucianus. 

This is one Lucianus, nephew to the king. 
Oph. You are a good chorus, my lord. 
Ham. I could interpret between you and 
your love, if I could see the puppets dallying, 261 
Oph. You are keen, my lord, you are keen. 
Ham. It would cost you a groaning to take 
off my edge. 264 

Oph. Still better, and worse. 
Ham. So you must take your husbands. 
Begin, murderer; pox, leave thy damnable 
faces, and begin. Come; the croaking raven 
doth bellow for revenge. 269 

Luc. Thoughts black, hands apt, drugs fit, and 
time agreeing; 
Confederate season, else no creature seeing; 
Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected. 
With Hecate's ban thrice blasted, thrice infected. 
Thy natural magic and dire property, 274 

On wholesome life usurp immediately. 

(JPours the poison in his ears.) 
Ham. He poisons him i' the garden for 's 
estate. His name's Gonzago; the story is extant, 
and writ in very choice Italian. You shall see 
anon how the murderer gets the love of Gon- 
zago's wife. 280 

256 galled jade: horse sore front chafing withers: shoulders 

257 unwrung: not galled 

259 chorus: in Elizabethan drama one who speaks a prologue sum- 
marising the action 

260 interpret; cf. n. 

267 pox: small-pox, used frequently as an imprecation 

268 the croaking . . . revenge ; cf. n. 

271 Coniederatt: conspiring to assist 273 Hecate; cf. n. 



82 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Oph. The king rises. 

Ham. What ! frighted with false fire ? 

Queen. How fares my lord? 

Pol. Give o'er the play. 284 

King. Give me some light : away ! 

All. Lights J lights, lights ! 

Exeunt all hut Hamlet and Horatio. 
Ham. "Why, let the stricken deer go weep. 

The hart ungalled play; 288 

For some must watch, while some must 
sleep : 
So runs the world away.'* 
Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers, if 
the rest of my fortunes turn Turk with me, with 
two Provincial roses on my razed shoes, get me 
a fellowship in a cry of players, sir.f* 
Hor. Half a share. 

Ham. A whole one, I. 296 

"For thou dost know, O Damon dear. 
This realm dismantled was 
Of Jove himself; and now reigns here 

A very, very — pajock." 300 

Hor. You might have rimed. 
Ham. O good Horatio ! I'll take the ghost's 
word for a thousand pound. Didst perceive? 

Hor. Very well, my lord. 304 

Ham. Upon the talk of the poisoning? 
Hor. I did very well note him. 

282 false fire; cf. n. 284 Give o'er: stop 287 deer go weep; cf. n. 

291 forest of feathers: an allusion to the plumes worn by tragic actors 

292 turn Turk: change completely 

293 Provincial roses: rosettes imitating the damask rose; cf. n. 
razed: slashed, i.e., with cuts or openings 

294 fellowship: partnership cry: com,pany; cf. n. 

295 share: i.e., in the profits of the company; cf. n. 297 Damon; cf. n. 
298 dismantled: deprived 300 pajock: peacock{l); cf. n. 



Prince of Denmark ^ III, ii 83 

Ham. Ahj ha ! Come, some music ! come, 
the recorders ! 308 

"For if the king like not the comedy, 
Why then, belike he likes it not, perdy." 
Come, some music! 

Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Guil. Good my lord, vouchsafe me a word 
with you. 313 

Ham. Sir, a whole history. 

Guil. The king, sir, — 

Ham. Ay, sir, what of him .f* 316 

Guil. Is in his retirement marvellous dis- 
tempered. 

Ham. With drink, sir? 

Guil. No, my lord, rather with choler. 320 

Ham. Your wisdom should show itself more 
richer to signify this to his doctor; for, for me 
to put him to his purgation would perhaps 
plunge him into far more choler. 324 

Guil. Good my lord, put your discourse into 
some frame, and start not so wildly from my 
affair. 

Ham. I am tame, sir; pronounce. 328 

Guil. The queen, your mother, in most great 
aflEliction of spirit, hath sent me to you. 

Ham. You are welcome. 331 

Guil. Nay, good my lord, this courtesy is 
not of the right breed. If it shall please you 
to make me a wholesome answer, I will do 
your mother's commandment; if not, your 

308 recorders: wind instruments of the flute type 

310 perdy: a corruption of par Dieu 

317 distempered: disordered; cf. n. 320 choler: anger; cf. n. 

323 ^■axga.tion: purging; cf.n. 326 irame: definite form 

328 pronounce: .f/'ecfe 334 wholesome: jen^fe/^ 

\ 



84 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

pardon and my return shall be the end of my 
business. 337 

Ham. Sir, I cannot. 

Guil. What, my lord ? 

Ham. Make you a wholesome answer; my 
wit's diseased; but, sir, such answer as I can 
make, you shall command; or, rather, as you 
say, my mother: therefore no more, but to the 
matter: my mother, you say, — 344 

Ros. Then, thus she says : your behaviour hath 
struck her into amazement and admiration. 

Ham. O wonderful son, that can so astonish 
a mother! But is there no sequel at the heels 
of this mother's admiration? Impart. 349 

Ros. She desires to speak with you in her 
closet ere you go to bed. 

Ham. We shall obey, were she ten times our 
mother. Have you any further trade with us? 

Ros. My lord, you once did love me. 

Ham. So I do still, by these pickers and 
stealers. 356 

Ros, Good my lord, what is your cause of 
distemper .f* you do surely bar the door upon 
your own liberty, if you deny your griefs to your 
friend. 360 

Ham. Sir, I lack advancement. 

Ros. How can that be when you have the 
voice of the king himself for your succession in 
Denmark ? 364 

Ham. Ay, sir, but 'While the grass grows,' — 
the proverb is something musty. 

Enter the Players, with recorders. 

355 pickers and stealers: hands; cf. n. 

363 voice: support 365 'While . . . grows'; cf. n. 



Prince of Denmark, III, ii 85 

O ! the recorders : let me see one. To withdraw 
with you: why do you go about to recover the 
wind of me, as if you would drive me into a toil ? 

Guil. O ! my lord, if my duty be too bold, my 
love is too unmannerly. 

Ham. I do not well understand that. Will 
you play upon this pipe? 373 

Guil. My lord, I cannot. 

Ham. I pray you. 

Guil. Believe me, I cannot. 376 

Ham. I do beseech you. 

Guil. I know no touch of it, my lord. 

Ham. 'Tis as easy as lying; govern these 
ventages with your finger and thumb, give it 
breath with your mouth, and it will discourse 
most excellent music. Look you, these are the 
stops. 

Guil. But these cannot I command to any 
utterance of harmony; I have not the skill. 385 

Ham. Why, look you now, how unworthy a 
thing you make of me. You would play upon 
me; you would seem to know my stops; you 
would pluck out the heart of my mystery; you 
would sound me from my lowest note to the top 
of my compass; and there is much music, ex- 
cellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you 
make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am 
easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me 
what instrument you will, though you can fret 
me, you cannot play upon me. 396 

367 withdraw with: speak privately with 

368 recover the wind oi: keep watch upon; cf. n. 369 toil: ^nore 
378 know no touch: have no skill at all 380 ventages: holes, stops 

391 compass: range of voice 

392 organ: musical instrument, the recorder 395 fret; c/. n. 



86 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Enter Polonius. 

God bless you, sir ! 

Pol. My lord/ the queen would speak with 
you, and presently. 

Ham. Do you see yonder cloud that's almost 
in shape of a camel? 401 

Pol. By the mass, and 'tis like a camel, indeed. 
Ham. Methinks it is like a weasel. 
Pol. It is backed like a weasel. 404 

Ham. Or like a whale } 
Pol. Very like a whale. 

Ham. Then I will come to my mother by 
and by. [Aside.'] They fool me to the top of my 
bent. [Aloud.] I will come by and by. 409 

Pol. I will say so. Exit, 

Ham. By and by is easily said. Leave me, 
friends. [Exeunt all but Hamlet.] 

'Tis now the very witching time of night, 413 

When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out 
Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood, 
And do such bitter business as the day 416 

Would quake to look on. Soft ! now to my mother. 

heart! lose not thy nature; let not ever 
The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom; 

Let me be cruel, not unnatural; 420 

1 will speak daggers to her, but use none; 
My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites; 
How in my words soever she be shent. 

To give them seals never, my soul, consent ! 424 

Exit. 

409 bent: degree of endurance ; cf. n. 

413 witching: when spells are cast 419 Nero; cf. n. 

423 shent: rebuked 

424 give them seals : confirm them by making words into deeds 



Prince of Denmark j, III, Hi ^'^ 

Scene Three 

\_A Room in the Castle^ 

Enter King, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. 

King. I like him not, nor stands it safe with us 
To let his madness range. Therefore prepare you ; 

1 your commission will forthwith dispatch, 

And he to England shall along with you. 4 

The terms of our estate may not endure 
Hazard so dangerous as doth hourly grow 
Out of his lunacies. 

Guil. We will ourselves provide. 

Most holy and religious fear it is 8 

To keep those many many bodies safe 
That live and feed upon your majesty. 

Ros. The single and peculiar life is bound 
With all the strength and armour of the mind 
To keep itself from noyance ; but much more 13 

That spirit upon whose weal depend and rest 
The lives of many. The cease of majesty 
Dies not alone, but, like a gulf doth draw 16 

What's near it with it ; it is a massy wheel, 
Fix'd on the summit of the highest mount. 
To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things 
Are mortis'd and adjoin'd; which, when it falls, 20 
Each small annexment, petty consequence. 
Attends the boisterous ruin. Never alone 
Did the king sigh, but with a general groan. 

2 range : rove, roam 3 forthwith dispatch : prepare at once 
5 terms: condition 8 fear: caution 
11 single and peculiar: private individual _ 13 noyance: harni 
14 weal: welfare 15 cease: cessation, euphemism for 'death' 
16 gulf: whirlpool 21 annexment: appendage 
22 Attends: accompanies 



88 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

King. Arm JOm, I pray you, to this speedy 
voyage ; 24 

For we will fetters put upon this fear, 
Which now goes too free-footed. 

Gent. We will haste us. 

Exeunt [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.^ 

Enter Polonius. 

Pol. My lord, he's going to his mother's closet: 
Behind the arras I'll convey myself 28 

To hear the process; I'll warrant she'll tax him home; 
And, as you said, and wisely was it said, 
'Tis meet that some more audience than a mother. 
Since nature makes them partial, should o'erhear 32 
The speech, of vantage. Fare you well, my liege: 
I'll call upon you ere you go to bed 
And tell you what I know. 

King. Thanks, dear my lord. 

Exit [Polonius.^ 
O ! my offence is rank, it smells to heaven ; 36 

It hath the primal eldest curse upon 't ; 
A brother's murder ! Pray can I not, 
Though inclination be as sharp as will : 
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent ; 40 

And, like a man to double business bound, 
I stand in pause where I shall first begin. 
And both neglect. What if this cursed hand 
Were thicker than itself with brother's blood, 44 

Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens 
To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves mercy 
But to confront the visage of offence.^ 

24 Arm: prepare 

29 ■process: interview tax . . . home: censure effectually 

33 of vantage: from a favorable position, or, in addition 

37 primal: primeval; cf. n. 

44 thicker than itself: m,ade over double its normal thickness 

47 confront: oppose directly 



Prince of Denmark, III, Hi 89 

And what's in prayer but this two-fold force, 48 

To be forestalled, ere we come to fall. 

Or pardon'd, being down? Then, I'll look up; 

My fault is past. But, O ! what form of prayer 

Can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder?' 52 

That cannot be ; since I am still possess'd 

Of those effects for which I did the murder. 

My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. 

May one be pardon'd and retain the offence ? 56 

In the corrupted currents of this world 

Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice. 

And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself 

Buys out the law; but 'tis not so above; 60 

There is no shuffling, there the action lies 

In his true nature, and we ourselves compell'd 

Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults 

To give in evidence. What then? what rests? 

Try what repentance can: what can it not? 65 

Yet what can it, when one can not repent ? 

O wretched state ! O bosom black as death ! 

O limed soul, that struggling to be free 68 

Art more engaged ! Help, angels ! make assay ; 

Bow, stubborn knees; and heart with strings of steel 

Be soft as sinews of the new-born babe. 

All may be well. [Retires and Jcneels.'] 

Enter Hamlet. 

Ham. Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; 73 
And now I'll do 't : and so he goes to heaven ; 

49 forestalled : prevented in anticipation 

54 effects: i.e., things acquired by an action 

55 ambition: i.e., the realisation of ambition (so also offence in 56) 

58 gilded hand: hand using bribes of gold 

59 wickedprize: reward of wickedness 60 Bnys out: corrupts 
61 shuffling: practice of trickery lies: used in its legal sense; cf. n. 
63 teeth and forehead: very face 64 rests: remains 
68 limed: caught with bird-lime 69 engaged: entangled 



90 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

And so am I reveng'd. That would be scann'd: 

A villain kills my father; and for that, 76 

I, his sole son, do this same villain send 

To heaven. 

Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge. 

He took my father grossly, full of bread, 80 

With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May; 

And how his audit stands who knows save heaven? 

But in our circumstance and course of thought 

*Tis heavy with him. And am I then reveng'd. 

To take him in the purging of his soul, 85 

When he is fit and season'd for his passage? 

No. 

Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent ; 88 

When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage. 

Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed. 

At gaming, swearing, or about some act 

That has no relish of salvation in 't; 92 

Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, 

And that his soul may be as damn'd and black 

As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays: 

This physic but prolongs thy sickly days. Exit. 

[The King rises and advances.^ 

King. My words fly up, my thoughts remain 

below : 97 

Words without thoughts never to heaven go. Exit. 

75 would: requires to scann'd: examined, considered 

79 hire and salary : i.e., a reward 

80 full of bread: without opportunity to fast; cf. n. 

81 hroad blown: in full bloom Hush: lusty 82 audit: account 
83 in our circumstance and course : according to our vague ideas 

86 passage: i.e., to the other world 88 hent: intention 

92 relish: flavor 96 physic: medicine, i.e., the postponement 



Prince of Denmark^, III, iv 9i 

Scene Four 

[The Queen's Closet] 

Enter Queen and Polonius. 

Pol. He will come straight. Look you lay home 
to him ; 
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, 
And that your Grace hath screen'd and stood between 
Much heat and him. I'll silence me e'en here. 4 

Pray you, be round with him. 

Ham. (Within.) Mother, mother, mother! 

Queen. I'll warrant you; 

Fear me not. Withdraw, I hear him coming. 

[Polonius hides behind the arras."] 

Enter Hamlet. 

Ham. Now, mother, what's the matter? 8 

Queen. Hamlet, thou hast thy father much of- 
fended. 

Ham. Mother, you have my father much offended. 

Queen. Come, come, you answer with an idle 
tongue. 

Ham. Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. 12 

Queen. Why, how now, Hamlet ! 

Ham. What's the matter now? 

Queen. Have you forgot me? 

Ham. No, by the rood, not so: 

You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife; 
And, — ^would it were not so ! — you are my mother. 16 

Queen. Nay then, I'll set those to you that can 
speak. 

1 lay home: talk plainly 2 broad: free, unrestrained 

4 heat: anger 14 rood: cross 



92 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Ham. Come, come, and sit you down; you shall 
not budge; 
You go not, till I set you up a glass 
Where you may see the inmost part of you. 20 

Queen. What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder 
me? 
Help, help, ho ! 

Pol. [Behind.'] What, ho! help! help! help! 
Ham. [JDraws.] How now! a rat? Dead, for a 
ducat, dead! [Makes a thrust through the arras.] 

Kills Polonius. 

Pol. [Behind.] O ! I am slain. 24 

Queen. O me, what hast thou done ? 

Ham. Nay, I know not: is it the king? 

Queen. O ! what a rash and bloody deed is this ! 

Ham. A bloody deed! almost as bad, good 
mother, 28 

As kill a king, and marry with his brother. 

Queen. As kill a king! 

Ham. Ay, lady, 'twas my word. 

[Lifts up the arras and discovers Polonius.] 
[To Polonius.] Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, 

farewell ! 
I took thee for thy better ; take thy fortune ; 32 

Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger. 
[To the Queen.] Leave wringing of your hands: 

peace ! sit you down. 
And let me wring your heart ; for so I shall 
If it be made of penetrable stuff, 36 

If damned custom have not brass'd it so 
That it is proof and bulwark against sense. 

37 brass'd: hardened 

38 proof and bulwark: an impenetrable defence sense: feeling 



Prince of Denmark^, III, iv 93 

Queen. What have I done that thou dar'st wag thy 
tongue 
In noise so rude against me? 

Ham. Such an act 40 

That blurs the grace and blush of modesty, 
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose 
From the fair forehead of an innocent love 
And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows 
As false as dicers' oaths ; O ! such a deed 45 

As from the body of contraction plucks 
The very soul, and sweet religion makes 
A rhapsody of words ; heaven's face doth glow. 
Yea, this solidity and compound mass, 49 

With tristful visage, as against the doom. 
Is thought-sick at the act. 

Queen. Ay me! what act, 

That roars so loud and thunders in the index ? 

Ham. Look here, upon this picture, and on 
this ; 53 

The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. 
See, what a grace was seated on this brow ; 
Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself, 56 

An eye like Mars, to threaten and command, 
A station like the herald Mercury 
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill, 
A combination and a form indeed, 60 

Where every god did seem to set his seal. 
To give the world assurance of a man. 
This was your husband: look you now, what follows. 
Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear, 64 

46 contraction: marriage contract 

48 rhapsody of words: meaningless string of words glow: blush 

49 solidity and compound mass: the earth 

50 tristful: j'arf doom: doomsday 52 index: preface 
54 counterfeit presentment: portrayed likeness 

56 iront: forehead 58 station: poise 64 ear: ear of wheat 



94j The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes? 
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed. 
And batten on this moor ? Ha ! have you eyes ? 
You cannot call it love, for at your age 68 

The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble. 
And waits upon the judgment; and what judgment 
Would step from this to this ? [Sense, sure, you have. 
Else could you not have motion; but sure, that 
sense 72 

Is apoplex'd; for madness would not err. 
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd 
But it reserv'd some quantity of choice, 75 

To serve in such a difference.] What devil was 't 
That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind .f* 
[Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight. 
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all. 
Or but a sickly part of one true sense 80 

Could not so mope.] 

O shame ! where is thy blush ? Rebellious hell. 
If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones. 
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax, 84 

And melt in her own fire: proclaim no shame 
When the compulsive ardour gives the charge, 
Since frost itself as actively doth burn. 
And reason panders will. 

Queen. O Hamlet! speak no more; 

Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul; 89 

And there I see such black and grained spots 
As will not leave their tinct. 

67 batten: grow fat on ^ moor: a barren upland; cf. n. 

69 hey-day: state of excitement, youthful high spirits 

71 Sense: reasoning power 72 motion: emotion (,1) 

73 apoplex'd: atrophied 74 thrall'd: enslaved 

75 quantity of choice: power to choose 76 difference: disagreement 

77 cozen'd: cheated hoodman-hlind: blind man's buff 

79 sans: without 81 mope: act aimlessly 83 mutine: rise in mutiny 

86 charge: command 88 panders: ministers to the gratifications of 

90 grained: ingrained 91 tinct: color 



Prince of Denmark^ III. iv 95 

Ham. Nay, but to live 

In the rank sweat o£ an enseamed bed, 92 

Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love 
Over the nasty sty, — 

Queen. O ! speak to me no more ; 

These words like daggers enter in mine ears ; 
No more, sweet Hamlet! 

Ham. A murderer, and a villain; 

A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe 97 

Of your precedent lord; a vice of kings; 
A cut-purse of the empire and the rule. 
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole, lOO 

And put it in his pocket ! 

Queen. No more! 

Ham. A king of shreds and patches, — 

Enter Ghost. 

Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings, 
You heavenly guards ! What would your gracious 
figure ? 104 

Queen. Alas ! he's mad ! 

Ham. Do you not come your tardy son to chide, 
That, laps'd in time and passion, lets go by 
The important acting of your dread command? 
O ! say. 

Ghost. Do not forget: this visitation 109 

Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. 
But, look ! amazement on thy mother sits ; 
O ! step between her and her fighting soul ; 112 

92 enseamed: fifr^a^i^ 97 tithe: tenth part 

98 precedent: former vice: buffoon; cf. n. 

99 cut-purse: pickpocket 

102 shreds and patches: rabble and fools (?) ; cf. n. 

107 laps'd in time and passion: 'having suffered time to go by and 
passion to cool" {}) 

108 important: urgent 



96 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works: 
Speak to her, Hamlet. 

Ham. How is it with you, lady? 

Queen, Alas ! how is't with you. 
That you do bend your eye on vacancy 116 

And with the incorporal air do hold discourse? 
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep ; 
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm. 
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements, 120 

Starts up and stands an end. O gentle son! 
Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper 
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look? 

Ham. On him, on him! Look you, how pale he 
glares ! 124 

His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones. 
Would make them capable. Do not look upon me; 
Lest with this piteous action you convert 
My stern effects : then what I have to do 128 

Will want true colour; tears perchance for blood. 

Queen. To whom do you speak this ? 

Ham. Do you see nothing there? 

Queen. Nothing at all ; yet all that is I see. 

Ham. Nor did you nothing hear? 

Queen. No, nothing but ourselves. 

Ham. Why, look you there! look, how it steals 
away; 133 

My father, in his habit as he liv'd; 
Look! where he goes, even now, out at the portal. 

Exit Ghost. 

117 incorporal: incorporeal 

120 \)&ddQ6.: smooth, flatly brushed life in excrements: /tVtMfif owf- 

growth 

125 con]oin' 6.: united 126 capable: capable of feeling 

127 convert: turn aside 128 effects: purposes 

129 want true colour: lack true cause 134 habit: dress 



Prince of Denmark^ III, iv 97 

Queen. This is the very coinage of your brain : 136 
This bodiless creation ecstasy 
Is very cunning in. 

Ham. Ecstasy! 
My pulse^ as yours^ doth temperately keep time, 
And makes as healthful music. It is not madness 141 
That I have utter'd: bring me to the test, 
And I the matter will re-word, which madness 
Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace, 
Lay not that flattering unction to your soul, 145 

That not your trespass but my madness speaks ; 
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place. 
Whiles rank corruption, mining all within, 148 

Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven; 
Repent what's past; avoid what is to come; 
And do not spread the compost on the weeds 
To make them ranker. Forgive me this my 
virtue ; 152 

For in the fatness of these pursy times 
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg. 
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good. 

Queen. O Hamlet ! thou hast cleft my heart in 
twain. 156 

Ham. O ! throw away the worser part of it. 
And live the purer with the other half. 
Good night; but go not to mine uncle's bed; 
Assume a virtue, if you have it not. 160 

[That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat. 
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this. 
That to the use of actions fair and good 
He likewise gives a frock or livery, 164 

143 re-word: repeat word for word 

144 g3.mho\irova.: skip away from grace: God 145 vinction: salve 
148 mining: undermining 153 fatness: grossness pursy: corpulent 
155 curb and woo: bow and beg 163 use: habitual practice 



98 The Tragedy of Hamlet^ 

That aptly is put on.] Refrain to-night; 
And that shall lend a kind of easiness 
To the next abstinence: [the next more easy; 
For use almost can change the stamp of nature, 
And master ev'n the devil or throw him out 169 

With wondrous potency.] Once more, good-night: 
And when you are desirous to be bless'd, 
I'll blessing beg of you. For this same lord, 172 

[Pointing to Polonius.'\ 
I do repent: but heaven hath pleas'd it so, 
To punish me with this, and this with me. 
That I must be their scourge and minister. 
I will bestow him, and will answer well 176 

The death I gave him. So, again, good-night. 
I must be cruel only to be kind: 
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind. 
[One word more, good lady.] 

Queen. What shall I do? 180 

Ham. Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: 
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed; 
Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse; 
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses, 184 

Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers. 
Make you to ravel all this matter out. 
That I essentially am not in madness. 
But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him 
know ; 188 

For who that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise, 
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib. 
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so? 

169 master; cf. n. 171 be bless'd: to become blessed 

176 s.nswGr: account for 182 h\oi,t: bloated 183 wanton: wantonly 

184 reechy: grr^a^^; IBS paddling: playing fondly 

187 essentially: in my essential nature 

190 paddock: toad gib: tom-cat 

191 dear concernings: affairs dearly concerning one 



Prince of Denmark^ III, iv 99 

No, in despite of sense and secrecy, 192 

Unpeg the basket on the house's top, 

Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape. 

To try conclusions, in the basket creep. 

And break your own neck down. 196 

Queen. Be thou assur'd, if words be made of breath. 
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe 
What thou hast said to me. 

Ham. I must to England; you know that.f* 

Queen. Alack ! 

I had forgot: 'tis so concluded on. 201 

Ham, [There's letters seal'd; and my two school- 
fellows. 
Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd. 
They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way. 
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work ; 205 

For 'tis the sport to have the enginer 
Hoist with his own petar: and it shall go hard 
But I will delve one yard below their mines, 208 

And blow them at the moon. O ! 'tis most sweet. 
When in one line two crafts directly meet.] 
This man shall set me packing; 

I'll lug the guts into the neighbour room. 212 

Mother, good-night. Indeed this counsellor 
Is now most still, most secret, and most grave. 
Who was in life a foolish prating knave. 
Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you. 216 

Good-night, mother. 

JEixit Hamlet tugging in Polonius. 

194 famousape: a reference not yet identified 

195 conclusions: experiments 

204 mandate: command sweep my way: clear my path 

205 marshal: conduct 

206 enginer: maker of military engines, sapper 

207 Hoist: blown up petar: small bomb go hard But; c/. n. 
211 set me packing: send me off quickly 



100 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

ACT FOURTH 

Scene One 
\^A Room in the Castle^ 

Enter King, [and Queen, with Rosencrantz, and 
Guildenstern.^ 

King. There's matter in these sighs, these profound 
heaves : 
You must translate ; 'tis fit we understand them. 
Where is your son ? 

\_Queen. Bestow this place on us a little while.] 4 
[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.^ 
Ah ! my good lord, what have I seen to-night ! 

King. What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet? 

Queen. Mad as the sea and wind, when both con- 
tend 
Which is the mightier. In his lawless fit, 8 

Behind the arras hearing something stir. 
Whips out his rapier, cries, 'A rat! a rat!' 
And, in his brainish apprehension, kills 
The unseen good old man. 

King. O heavy deed! 12 

It had been so with us had we been there. 
His liberty is full of threats to all; 
To you yourself, to us, to every one. 
Alas ! how shall this bloody deed be answer'd ? 
It will be laid to us, whose providence 17 

Should have kept short, restrain'd, and out of haunt. 
This mad young man : but so much was our love. 
We would not understand what was most fit, 20 

I heawes: prolonged sighs 

II brainish apprehension: insane illusion, or, brain-sick mood 

12 heavy: grievous 17 providence: foresight 

18 short: under control, tethered out of haunt: out of company 



Prince of Denmark j IV, i loi 

But, like the owner of a foul disease. 
To keep it from divulging, let it feed 
Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone? 

Queen. To draw apart the body he hath kill'd; 24 
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore 
Among a mineral of metals base, 
Shows itself pure: he weeps for what is done. 

King, O Gertrude! come away. 28 

The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch 
But we will ship him hence ; and this vile deed 
We must, with all our majesty and skill. 
Both countenance and excuse. Ho ! Guildenstern ! 32 

Enter Rosencrants and Guildenstern. 

Friends both, go join you with some further aid: 
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain. 
And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him : 
Go seek him out ; speak fair, and bring the body 
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this. 37 

Exeunt [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.^ 
Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends; 
And let them know both what we mean to do. 
And what's untimely done: [so, haply, slander, 
Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter, 41 

As level as the cannon to his blank 
Transports his poison'd shot, may miss our name, 
And hit the woundless air.] O ! come away; 44 

My soul is full of discord and dismay. Exeunt. 

22 divulging: becoming known 26 mineral: mine 

36 iair: courteously ^ ^ 40 so, haply, slander; c/. ». 

41 diameter: extent from side to side 

42 level: straight blank: white spot in the centre of a target 
44 woundless: invulnerable 



102 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Scene Two 
{^Another Room in the Castle'\ 
Enter Hamlet. 
Ham. Safely stowed. 

r '] \ iW^^^^""") Hamlet! Lord Hamlet! 

Ham. What noise? who calls on Hamlet? 
O ! here they come. 4 

Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Ros. What have you done, my lord, with the dead 

body ? 
Ham. Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin. 
Ros. Tell us where 'tis, that we may take it thence 
And bear it to the chapel. 8 

Ham. Do not believe it. 
Ros. Believe what? 

Ham. That I can keep your counsel and not 
mine own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge ! 
what replication should be made by the son of 
a king? 14 

Ros. Take you me for a sponge, my lord? 

Ham. Ay, sir, that soaks up the king's 
countenance, his rewards, his authorities. But 
such officers do the king best service in the end: 
he keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his 
jaw; first mouthed, to be last swallowed: when 
he needs what you have gleaned, it is but 
squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry 
again. 23 

Ros. I understand you not, my lord. 

13 replication: reply 

17 countenance: favor authorities: oMces of authority 



Prince of D enmark, IV. Hi ^ 

Ham. I am glad of it: a knavish speech 
sleeps in a foolish ear. 

Ros. My lord, you must tell us where the 
body is, and go with us to the king. 28 

Ham. The body is with the king, but the 
king is not with the body. The king is a thing — 

Guil. A thing, my lord ! 

Ham. Of nothing: bring me to him. Hide 
fox, and all after. Ea;eunt. 

Scene Three 

[Another Room in the Castle] 

Enter King, [attended.] 

King. I have sent to seek him, and to find the body. 
How dangerous is it that this man goes loose ! 
Yet must not we put the strong law on him: 
He's lov'd of the distracted multitude, 4 

Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes ; 
And where 'tis so, the offender's scourge is weigh'd, 
But never the offence. To bear all smooth and even, 
This sudden sending him away must seem 8 

Deliberate pause: diseases desperate grown 
By desperate appliance are reliev'd. 
Or not at all. 

Enter Rosencrantz. 

How now! what hath befall'n? 
Ros. Where the dead body is bestow'd, my lord, 12 
We cannot get from him. 

29 The . . . body; cf.n. , , r i -j, j u 

32 Hide fox, and all after: signal cry m the game of hide-and-seek 
4 distracted: without power of forming logical judgments 

6 scourge: punishment weigh'd: estimated, considered 

7 bear: execute smooth and even: pleasantly and equably 
10 appliance: remedy 



104 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

King. But where is he? 

Ros. Without, my lord; guarded, to know your 

pleasure. 
King. Bring him before us. 
Ros. Ho, Guildenstern ! bring in my lord. 16 

Enter Hamlet and Guildenstern. 

King. Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius? 

Ham. At supper. 

King. At supper! Where? 

Ham. Not where he eats, but where he is 
eaten: a certain convocation of politic worms 
are e'en at him. Your worm is your only 
emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else to fat 
us, and we fat ourselves for maggots: your fat 
king and your lean beggar is but variable ser- 
vice; two dishes, but to one table: that's the 
end. 

[King. Alas, alas ! 28 

Ham. A man may fish with the worm that 
hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that 
hath fed of that worm.] 

King. What dost thou mean by this? 32 

Ham. Nothing, but to show you how a king 
may go a progress through the guts of a beggar. 

King. Where is Polonius? 35 

Ham. In heaven; send thither to see: if 
your messenger find him not there, seek him 
i' the other place yourself. But, indeed, if you 
find him not within this month, you shall nose 
him as you go up the stairs into the lobby. 40 

King. [To some Attendants.^ Go seek him there. 
Ham. He will stay till you come. 

21 convocation: assembly; cf. n. politic: crafty 

25 variahle service: variety of food 34 progress: state journey 



Prince of Denmark^ IV, Hi los 

[Exeunt Attendants.l 
King. Hamlet^ this deed, for thine especial safety, 
Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve 44 

For that which thou hast done, must send thee hence 
With fiery quickness: therefore prepare thyself; 
The bark is ready, and the wind at help. 
The associates tend, and every thing is bent 48 

For England. 

Ham. For England ! 

King. Ay, Hamlet. 

Ham. Good. 

King. So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes. 

Ham. I see a cherub that sees them. But, 
come; for England! Farewell, dear mother. 52 
King. Thy loving father, Hamlet. 
Ham. My mother: father and mother is man 
and wife, man and wife is one flesh, and so, my 
mother. Come, for England! Exit. 

King. Follow him at foot; tempt him with speed 
aboard : 57 

Delay it not, I'll have him hence to-night. 
Away ! for every thing is seal'd and done 
That else leans on the affair: pray you, make 
haste. 60 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.^ 
And, England, if my love thou hold'st at aught, — 
As my great power thereof may give thee sense. 
Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red 
After the Danish sword, and thy free awe 64 

Pays homage to us, — thou mayst not coldly set 
Our sovereign process, which imports at full, 

48 bent: prepared 57 at foot: close behind 

60 leans on: depends upon 63 cicatrice: jcar 

64 free awe: awe still felt but no longer enforced by arms 

65 s^t: esteem 66 process: formal command 



106 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

By letters conjuring to that effect, 

The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England; 

For like the hectic in my blood he rages, 69 

And thou must cure me. Till I know 'tis done, 

Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun. Exit. 



Scene Four 

[Near Elsinore^ 

Enter Fortinbras with an army. 



For. Go, captain, from me greet the Danish king; 
Tell him that, by his licence, Fortinbras 
Claims the conveyance of a promis'd march 
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous. 4 

If that his majesty would aught with us, 
We shall express our duty in his eye, 
And let him know so. 

Cap. I will do 't, my lord. 

For. Go softly on. 8 

\_Ea;eunt Fortinbras and Soldiers.^ 

[Enter Hamlet, Rosencrantz, ^c. 

Ham. Good sir, whose powers are these? 
Cap. They are of Norway, sir. 
Ham. How purpos'd, sir, I pray you} 
Cap. Against some part of Poland. 12 

Ham. Who commands them, sir? 
Cap. The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras. 
Ham. Goes it against the main of Poland, sir. 
Or for some frontier? 16 

Cap. Truly to speak, and with no addition, 

69 hectic: wasting fever _ _ 71 haps: fortunes 

3 conveyance: CO nz/oy 6 in his eye: in his presence 8 soitly: slowly 
9 powers: troops 15 main: chief part, or, chief power 

17 no addition: without adding fine words, or, without amplification 



Prince of Denmark^ IV, iv i^'' 

We go to gain a little patch of ground 

That hath in it no profit but the name. 

To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it; 20 

Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole 

A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee. 

Ham. Why, then the Polack never will defend it. 
Cap. Yes, 'tis already garrison'd. 24 

Ham. Two thousand souls and twenty thousand 
ducats 
Will not debate the question of this straw: 
This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace, 
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without 28 
Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, sir. 

Cap. God be wi' you, sir. [Exit.] 

Ros. Will 't please you go, my lord? 

Ham. I'll be with you straight. Go a little before. 

[Exeunt all except Hamlet.] 
How all occasions do inform against me, 32 

And spur my dull revenge ! What is a man. 
If his chief good and market of his time 
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more. 
Sure he that made us with such large discourse, 36 
Looking before and after, gave us not 
That capability and god-like reason 
To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be 
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple 40 

Of thinking too precisely on the event, 
A thought, which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom, 
And ever three parts coward, I do not know 
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do ;' 44 

22 ranker: richer sold in fee: sold absolutely _ 

26 debate: bring to a settlement straw: trifling matter 

27 imposthume: a&^c^j^ ^ 34 market: marketing 
36 large discourse: latitude of comprehension 29 fust: become moiildy 
40 ^&?,t{ai\oh\iyion'. animal-like forgetfulness 41 e.\&-nt: outcome 



108 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Sith I have cause and will and strength and means 

To do 't. Examples gross as earth exhort me : 

Witness this army of such mass and charge 

Led by a delicate and tender prince, 48 

Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd 

Makes mouths at the invisible event, 

Exposing what is mortal and unsure 

To all that fortune, death and danger dare, 52 

Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great 

Is not to stir without great argument. 

But greatly to find quarrel in a straw 

When honour's at the stake. How stand I then. 

That have a father kill'd, a mother stain' d, 57 

Excitements of my reason and my blood. 

And let all sleep, while, to my shame, I see 

The imminent death of twenty thousand men. 

That, for a fantasy and trick of fame, 61 

Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot 

Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause. 

Which is not tomb enough and continent 64 

To hide the slain ? O ! from this time forth. 

My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! 

Exit.'] 

Scene Five 

l^Elsinore. A Room in the Castle] 

Enter Queen and Horatio, [with a Gentleman.] 

Queen. I will not speak with her. 
Gent. She is importunate, indeed distract: 
Her mood will needs be pitied. 

45 Sith.: since 47 charge : expense _ 50 mouths: grimaces 

54 argument: cause 58 Excitements: incentives 61 trick: trifle 

64 continent: receptacle 
Scene V, S. d. ; cf. n. 2 importunate : persistent 



Prince of Denmark^ IV, v 109 

Queen. What would she have? 

Gent. She speaks much of her father; says she 

hears 4 

There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her 

heart ; 
Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt. 
That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing, 
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move 8 

The hearers to collection ; they aim at it. 
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts; 
Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield 

them. 
Indeed would make one think there might be 
thought, 12 

Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily. 

Hor. ^Twere good she were spoken with, for she 
may strew 
Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds. 

Queen. Let her come in. [Exit Gentleman.'\ 

To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is, 17 

Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss: 
So full of artless jealousy is guilt. 
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. 20 

Enter Ophelia distracted. 

Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark? 
Queen. How now, Ophelia ! 

5 tricks: deceptions 

6 Spurns: Heifer enviously: spitefully in doubt: cm&t^Mo«^ 

8 unshaped: ar^/^j^ 9 collection: inference aim: guess 

11 yield them: bring her words forth 

13 nothing: not at all much: very 

IS ill-breeding: plotting ill 18 great amiss: calamity 

19 artless: unskilful 

20 spills : ruins S. d. Cf. n. 



110 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Oph. "How should I your true love know 

From another one? 24 

By his cockle hat and staffs 
And his sandal shoon." 
Queen. Alas! sweet lady, what imports this song? 
Oph. Say you? nay, pray you, mark. 28 

"He is dead and gone, lady. 
He is dead and gone; 
At his head a grass-green turf ; 

At his heels a stone." 32 

O, ho! 

Queen. Nay, but Ophelia, — • 

Oph. Pray you, mark. 

"White his shroud as the mountain 

snow, — " 36 

Enter King. 
Queen. Alas ! look here, my lord. 
Oph. "Larded with sweet flowers; 

Which bewept to the grave did go 

With true-love showers." 40 

King. How do you, pretty lady? 

Oph. Well, God 'ild you! They say the owl 
was a baker's daughter. Lord! we know what 
we are, but know not what we may be. God be 
at your table ! 45 

King. Conceit upon her father. 
Oph. Pray you, let's have no words of this ; but 
when they ask you what it means, say you this: 
"To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, 49 

All in the morning betime. 
And I a maid at your window. 

To be your Valentine : 52 

25 cockle hat: pilgrim's hat; cf. n. 

26 shoon: shoes 38 larded: garnished 
42 God 'ild: God reward owl was a baker's daughter; cf. n. 



Prince of Denmark, IV, v m 

Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes. 
And dupp'd the chamber door; 

Let in the maid, that out a maid 

Never departed more." 56 

King. Pretty Ophelia ! 

Oph. Indeed, la ! without an oath, I'll make an 
end on 't : 
"By Gis and by Saint Charity, 

Alack, and fie for shame! 60 

Young men will do 't, if they come to 't ; 

By Cock they are to blame. 
Quoth she, before you tumbled me. 

You promis'd me to wed. 64 

So would I ha' done, by yonder sun. 
An thou hadst not come to my bed." 
King, How long hath she been thus? 67 

Oph. I hope all will be well. We must be 
patient: but I cannot choose but weep, to think 
they should lay him i' the cold ground. My 
brother shall know of it: and so I thank you 
for your good counsel. Come, my coach ! Good- 
night, ladies; good-night, sweet ladies; good- 
night, good-night. Exit. 

King. Follow her close; give her good watch, I 
pray you. [Exit Horatio.'] 

O ! this is the poison of deep grief ; it springs 76 

All from her father's death. O Gertrude, Gertrude ! 
When sorrows come, they come not single spies. 
But in battalions. First, her father slain; 
Next, your son gone ; but he most violent author 80 
Of his own just remove: the people muddied, 

54 dup-p'd: opened _ , 59 hy Gis: by Jesus 

62 Cock: perversion of 'God' in oaths 

81 remove: removal tnuddied: confused in mind 



112 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and 

whispers. 
For good Polonius' death; and we have done but 

greenly, 
In hugger-mugger to inter him: poor Ophelia 
Divided from herself and her fair judgment, 85 

Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts : 
Last, and as much containing as all these. 
Her brother is in secret come from France, 88 

Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds. 
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear 
With pestilent speeches of his father's death; 
Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd, 92 

Will nothing stick our person to arraign 
In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude ! this. 
Like to a murdering-piece, in many places 
Gives me superfluous death. A noise within. 

Queen. Alack! what noise is this? 

Enter a Messenger. 

King. Where are my Switzers? Let them guard 
the door. 97 

What is the matter ? 

Mess. Save yourself, my lord; 

The ocean, overpeering of his list, ^ 

Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste 
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, 101 

O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord; 
And, as the world were now but to begin, 

83 ^rtenly : foolishly ^ _ 84 In hugger-mugger: j^cr^i/^; 

89 wond&r '. doubt in clouds: in gloom, or, invisible 

90 huzzers: tale-bearers 92 Wherein: i.e., in which pestilent speeches 
93 nothing stick: not at all hesitate 94 In ear and ear: in many ears 
95 murdering-piece: small cannon firing case shot 

97 Switzers: Swiss guards; cf. n. 

99 overpeering: rising above list: boundary 

101 head: hostile advance 



Prince of Denmark^, IV. v ii3 

Antiquity forgot, custom not known, 104 

The ratifiers and props of every word. 
They cry, 'Choose we; Laertes shall be king!' 
Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds, 
'Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!' 108 

Queen. How cheerfully on the false trail they cry ! 
O ! this is counter, you false Danish dogs ! 

King. The doors are broke. Noise within. 

Enter Laertes with others. 

Laer. Where is the king? Sirs, stand you all 
without. 112 

All. No, let's come in. 

Laer. I pray you, give me leave. 

All. We will, we will. 

[They retire without the door.^ 

Laer. I thank you: keep the door. O thou vile 
king! 
Give me my father. 

Queen. Calmly, good Laertes. 116 

Laer. That drop of blood that's calm proclaims 
me bastard. 
Cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot 
Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brow 
Of my true mother. 

King. What is the cause, Laertes, 

That thy rebellion looks so giant-like? 121 

Let him go, Gertrude; do not fear our person: 
There's such divinity doth hedge a king. 
That treason can but peep to what it would. 
Acts little of his will. Tell me, Laertes, 125 

Why thou art thus incens'd. Let him go, Gertrude. 

110 counter: following the trail in a direction opposite to that which 

the game has taken 
118 cnckold: husband with an unfaithful wife 



114 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Speak, man. 

Laer. Where is my father? 

King. Dead. 

Queen. But not by him. 

King. Let him demand his fill. 128 

Laer. How came he dead .f* I'll not be juggled with. 
To hell, allegiance ! vows, to the blackest devil ! 
Conscience and grace, to the prof oundest pit ! 
I dare damnation. To this point I stand, 132 

That both the worlds I give to negligence. 
Let come what comes; only I'll be reveng'd 
Most throughly for my father. 

King. Who shall stay you? 

Laer. My will, not all the world: 136 

And, for my means, I'll husband them so well. 
They shall go far with little. 

King. Good Laertes, 

If you desire to know the certainty 
Of your dear father's death, is 't writ in your 
revenge, 140 

That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe. 
Winner and loser? 

Laer. None but his enemies. 

King. Will you know them then? 

Laer. To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my 
arms ; 144: 

And like the kind life-rendering pelican. 
Repast them with my blood. 

King. Why, now you speak 

Like a good child and a true gentleman. 
That I am guiltless of your father's death, 148 

131 ^race: sense of duty 133 giwe to negligence.: disregard 

136 My will: as re gar as my will 

141 swoopstake: indiscriminately ; cf. n. 

145 life-rendering pelican ; c/. «. 146 'R.epa.st: feed 



Prince of Denmark j, IV, v us 

And am most sensibly in grief for it, 
It shall as level to your judgment pierce 
As day does to your eye. 

A noise within. [Voices.^ Let her come in. 

Laer, How now! what noise is that.^ 152 

Enter Ophelia. 

O heat, dry up my brains ! tears seven times salt, 

Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye ! 

By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight, 

Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May ! 

Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia ! 157 

O heavens ! is 't possible a young maid's wits 

Should be as mortal as an old man's life.f* 

Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine 160 

It sends some precious instance of itself 

After the thing it loves. 

Oph. "They bore him barefac'd on the bier; 

Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny ; 164 

And in his grave rain'd many a tear ; — '* 
Fare you well, my dove! 

Laer. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade 
revenge. 
It could not move thus. 168 

Oph. "You must sing, a-down a-down. 

And you call him a-down-a." 
O how the wheel becomes it! It is the false 
steward that stole his master's daughter. 172 

Laer. This nothing's more than matter. 
Oph. There's rosemary, that's for remem- 
brance; pray, love, remember: and there is 
pansies, that's for thoughts. 176 

149 s&nsihly: feelingly 160 ^ne.: delicate, subtle 

161 instance: illustrative example 164 Hey non nonny; c/. n. 

171 wheel; cf. n. false steward; cf. n. 

174 rosemarj'-; cf. n. 176 pansies; cf. n. 



116 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Laer. A document in madness^ thoughts and 
remembrance fitted. 

Oph. There's fennel for you, and columbines; 
there's rue for you; and here's some for me; 
we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. O ! you 
must wear your rue with a difference. There's a 
daisy; I would give you some violets, but they 
withered all ^hen my father died. They say he 
made a good end, — 185 

"For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy." 

Laer. Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself. 

She turns to favour and to prettiness. 188 

Oph, "And will he not come again? 

And will he not come again? 

No, no, he is dead; 

Go to thy death-bed, 192 

He never will come again. 
His beard was as white as snow 
All flaxen was his poll. 

He is gone, he is gone, 196 

And we cast away moan : 
God ha' mercy on his soul !" 
And of all Christian souls ! I pray God. God be 
wi' ye! Exit Ophelia. 

Laer. Do you see this, O God? 201 

King. Laertes, I must common with your grief. 

Or you deny me right. Go but apart. 

Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, 204 

177 document: lesson 

179 fennel: emblem of flattery columbines: emblems of thanklessness 

180 rue: emblem of repentance ; cf. n. 182 difference; cf. n. 
183 daisy: emblem of dissemblers violets: emblems of faithfulness 
186 For . . . joy; cf. n. 187 passion: suffering 
188 favour: charm 189 And . . . again; cf. n. 195 poll: head 
197 cast away: shipwrecked 

202 common: share 203 right: equitable treatment 



Prince of Denmark, IV. vi 1 17 

And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me. 

If by direct or by collateral hand 

They find us touch'd^, we will our kingdom give, 

Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours, 208 

To you in satisfaction; but if not. 

Be you content to lend your patience to us. 

And we shall jointly labour with your soul 

To give it due content. 

Laer. Let this be so: 212 

His means of death, his obscure burial. 
No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones. 
No noble rite nor formal ostentation. 
Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth. 
That I must call 't in question. 

King. So you shall; 217 

And where the offence is let the great axe fall. 
I pray you go with me. Exeunt, 

Scene Six 

\^Another Room in the Castle^ 

Enter Horatio with an Attendant. 

Hor. What are they that would speak with me.^* 
Atten. Sailors, sir: they say, they have letters 

for you. 
Hor. Let them come in. [Exit Attendant. '\ 

I do not know from what part of the world 4 

I should be greeted, if not from Lord Hamlet. 

Enter Sailor. 
Sail. God bless you, sir. 

206 collateral : indirect 207 touch'd : implicated 

213 means: manner obscure: lowly, mean 

214 trophy -.emblem, or, memorial over a grave hatchment: tablet 
displaying armorial bearings 

215 ostentation', funeral ceremony 

217 call 't in question: demand an explanation 



118 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Hor. Let him bless thee too. 

Sail. He shall, sir, an 't please him. There's 
a letter for you, sir; — it comes from the am- 
bassador that was bound for England; — if 
your name be Horatio, as I am let to know 
it is. 12 

Reads the letter. 

Hor. "Horatio, when thou shalt have over- 
looked this, give these fellows some means to the 
king: they have letters for him. Ere we were 
two days old at sea, a pirate of very war-like 
appointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves 
too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valour; 
in the grapple I boarded them: on the instant 
they got clear of our ship, so I alone became 
their prisoner. They have dealt with me like 
thieves of mercy, but they knew what they did; 
I am to do a good turn for them. Let the king 
have the letters I have sent; and repair thou to 
me with as much haste as thou wouldst fly 
death. I have words to speak in thine ear will 
make thee dumb; yet are they much too light 
for the bore of the matter. These good fellows 
will bring thee where I am. Rosencrantz and 
Guildenstern hold their course for England: of 
them I have much to tell thee. Farewell. 

He that thou knowest thine, 32 

Hamlet.^' 
Come, I will give you way for these your letters ; 
And do 't the speedier, that you may direct me 
To him from whom you brought them. Exeunt. 

13 overlooked: perused 

17 appointment: equipment 24 repair: come 

28 bore : literally, calibre, hence importance 34 way : passage 



Prince of Denmark, IV, vii 119 

Scene Seven 

\^A Room in the Castle'\ 

Enter King and Laertes. 

King. Now must your conscience my acquittance 
seal, 
And you must put me in your heart for friend, 
Sith you have heard, and with a knowing ear. 
That he which hath your noble father slain 4 

Pursu'd my life. 

Laer. It well appears: but tell me 

Why you proceeded not against these feats. 
So crimeful and so capital in nature. 
As by your safety, wisdom, all things else, 8 

You mainly were stirr'd up. 

King. O! for two special reasons; 

Which may to you, perhaps, seem much unsinew'd. 
But yet to me they are strong. The queen his mother 
Lives almost by his looks, and for myself, — 12 

My virtue or my plague, be it either which, — 
She's so conjunctive to my life and soul. 
That, as the star moves not but in his sphere, 
I could not but by her. The other motive, 16 

Why to a public count I might not go, 
Is the great love the general gender bear him; 
Who, dipping all his faults in their aJffection, 
Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone, 20 
Convert his gyves to graces ; so that my arrows. 
Too slightly timber'd for so loud a wind, 

3 knoyfing: intelligent, or, convinced 5 Vnr&n' di'. sought 

7 capital: punishable hy death 10 unsinew'd: w^oife 

14 coninnctive: closely united 17 count: legal indictment 

18 general gender: common people 20 spring; cf. n. 

21 gyves: leg-irons; cf. n. 22 slightly t'maher'd: of too light a wood 



120 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Would have reverted to my bow again. 

And not where I had aim'd them. 24 

Laer. And so have I a noble father lost ; 
A sister driven into desperate terms, 
Whose worth, if praises may go back again. 
Stood challenger on mount of all the age 28 

For her perfections. But my revenge will come. 

King. Break not your sleeps for that; you must 
not think 
That we are made of stuff so flat and dull 
That we can let our beard be shook with danger 
And think it pastime. You shortly shall hear 
more ; 33 

I lov'd your father, and we love ourself. 
And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine, — 

Enter a Messenger. 

How now ! what news ? 

Mess. Letters, my lord, from Hamlet: 

This to your maj esty ; this to the queen. 37 

King. From Hamlet! who brought them? 
Mess. Sailors, my lord, they say; I saw them not: 

They were given me by Claudio, he receiv'd them 40 

[Of him that brought them.] 

King. Laertes, you shall hear them. 

Leave us. Exit Messenger. 

"High and mighty, you shall know I am set 
naked on your kingdom. To-morrow shall I 
beg leave to see your kingly eyes; when I shall, 
first asking your pardon thereunto, recount the 
occasions of my sudden and more strange re- 
turn. Hamlet." 

23 reverted: returned; cf. n. 

27 praises . . . again; cf. n. 28 challenger on mount; cf. n. 

40 Claudio; cf. n. 44 naked: without resources 



Prince of Denmark, IV. vii 121 

What should this mean? Are all the rest come 
back ? 49 

Or is it some abuse and no such thing? 

Laer. Know you the hand? 

King. 'Tis Hamlet's character. 'Naked/ 

And in a postscript here, he says, 'alone.' 52 

Can you advise me? 

Laer. I'm lost in it, my lord. But let him come: 
It warms the very sickness in my heart. 
That I shall live and tell him to his teeth, 56 

'Thus didst thou.' 

King. I£ it be so, Laertes, 

As how should it be so ? how otherwise ? 
Will you be rul'd by me ? 

Laer. Ay, my lord; 

So you will not o'er-rule me to a peace. 60 

King. To thine own peace. If he be now return'd. 
As checking at his voyage, and that he means 
No more to undertake it, I will work him 
To an exploit, now ripe in my device, 64 

Under the which he shall not choose but fall; 
And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe. 
But even his mother shall uncharge the practice 
And call it accident. 

[Laer. My lord, I will be rul'd; 68 

The rather, if you could devise it so 
That I might be the organ. 

King. It falls right. 

You have been talk'd of since your travel much. 
And that in Hamlet's hearing, for a quality 72 

Wherein, they say, you shine; your sum of parts 

50 abuse: imposture 51 character: handwriting 

62 checking: stopping short 

67 uncharge: acquit of guilt practice: stratagem 

70 organ: instrument falls: happens 



122 The Tragedy of Hamlet^ 

Did not together pluck such envy from him 
As did that one, and that, in my regard, 
Of the unworthiest siege. 

Laer. What part is that, my lord? 76 

King. A very riband in the cap of youth. 
Yet needful too; for youth no less becomes 
The light and careless livery that it wears 
Than settled age his sables and his weeds, 80 

Importing health and graveness.] Two months since 
Here was a gentleman of Normandy. 
I've seen myself, and serv'd against the French, 
And they can well on horseback ; but this gallant 84 
Had witchcraft in 't, he grew unto his seat, 
And to such wondrous doing brought his horse, 
As he had been incorps'd and demi-natur'd 
With the brave beast; so far he topp'd my thought, 88 
That I, in forgery of shapes and tricks, 
Come short of what he did. 

Laer. A Norman was 't ? 

King. A Norman. 

Laer. Upon my life, Lamond. 

King. The very same. 92 

Laer. I know him well; he is the brooch indeed 
And gem of all the nation. 

King. He made confession of you. 
And gave you such a masterly report 96 

For art and exercise in your defence. 
And for your rapier most especially. 
That he cried out, 'twould be a sight indeed 

76 siege: rank; cf. n. part: attribute 77 riband: ribbon 

79 Wv&vy: garb 80 we.eAs: garments 81 health: prosperity 

84 can well: are skilled 87 incorps'd and demi-natur'd; cf. n. 

88 topp'd: surpassed 89 in . . . tricks; cf. n. 

95 confession: r^^or^ 96 masterly report; c/. n. 

97 art and exercise: skilful exercise deience: science of defence 



Prince of Denmark, IF, vii ^ 

If one could match you; [the scrimers of their 
nation, l^^ 

He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye. 
If you oppos'd them.] Sir, this report of his 
Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy 
That he could nothing do but wish and beg 104 

Your sudden coming o'er, to play with him. 
Now, out of this, — 

Laer. What out of this, my lord? 

King. Laertes, was your father dear to you ? 
Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, 108 

A face without a heart ? 

Laer. Why ask you this? 

King. Not that I think you did not love your father. 
But that I know love is begun by time. 
And that I see, in passages of proof, 112 

Time qualifies the spark and fire of it. 
[There lives within the very flame of love 
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it. 
And nothing is at a like goodness still, 116 

For goodness, growing to a plurisy, 
Dies in his own too-much. That we would do. 
We should do when we would, for this 'would' 

changes. 
And hath abatements and delays as many 120 

As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents ; 
And then this 'should' is like a spendthrift sigh, 
That hurts by easing. But, to the quick o' the ulcer ;] 
Hamlet comes back; what would you undertake 
To show yourself your father's son in deed 125 

More than in words ? 

Laer. To cut his throat i' the church. 

100 scrimers: fencers ,i, i • ^^f P^^V-tfJ 

112 passages of proof; cf. n. 117 plurisy : fulness, cf n. 

120 abatements: diminutions 122 spendthrift sigh, cf. n. 



124 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

King. No place, indeed_, should murder sanctuarize ; 
Revenge should have no bounds. But, good 
Laertes, 128 

Will you do this, keep close vrithin your chamber. 
Hamlet return'd shall know you are come home; 
We'll put on those shall praise your excellence. 
And set a double varnish on the fame 132 

The Frenchman gave you, bring you, in fine, together. 
And wager on your heads: he, being remiss. 
Most generous and free from all contriving. 
Will not peruse the foils ; so that, with ease 136 

Or with a little shuffling, you may choose 
A sword unbated, and, in a pass of practice 
Requite him for your father. 

Laer. I will do 't; 

And, for that purpose, I'll anoint my sword. 140 

I bought an unction of a mountebank. 
So mortal that, but dip a knife in it. 
Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare. 
Collected from all simples that have virtue 144 

Under the moon, can save the thing from death 
That is but scratch'd withal; I'll touch my point 
With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly, 
It may be death. 

King. Let's further think of this; 148 

Weigh what convenience both of time and means 
May fit us to our shape. If this should fail. 
And that our drift look through our bad perform- 
ance 151 
'Twere better not assay'd; therefore this project 
Should have a back or second, that might hold, 

131 put on: instigate 136 peruse: inspect 

138 unbated: not blunted pass of practice; cf. n. 

140 anoint: smear _ 141 mountebank; cf. n. 

143 cataplasm: poultice 144 simples: medicinal herbs 

145 moon; cf. n. 150 our shape: part we purpose to act 



Prince of Denmark, IV, vii 125 

If this should blast in proof. Soft! let me see; 
We'll make a solemn wager on your cunnings: 
Iha't: 156 

When in your motion you are hot and dry, — 
As make your bouts more violent to that end, — 
And that he calls for drink, I'll have prepar'd him 
A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping. 
If he by chance escape your venom'd stuck, 161 

Our purpose may hold there. [But stay ! what noise ?] 

Enter Queen. 

How now, sweet queen ! 

Queen. One woe doth tread upon another's heel, 164 
So fast they follow: your sister's drown'd, Laertes. 

Laer. Drown'd ! O, where ? 

Queen. There is a willow grows aslant a brook. 
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream ; 
There with fantastic garlands did she come, 169 

Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples. 
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name. 
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call 
them : 172 

There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds 
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke. 
When down her weedy trophies and herself 
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread 
wide, 176 

And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up; 
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes. 
As one incapable of her own distress, 

154 blast in proof: burst when tested 155 cunnings: skill; cf. n 

157 motion • bodily exertion 160 for the nonce : for the purpose 

161 stnck- thrust 168 ho2.v: greyish-white 

170 crow-flowers: buttercups; cf. n. long purples: early purple 

171 \ih&r^\: licentious 173 coronet: garlanded 
175 weedy: of plants 179 incapable: having no understanding 



126 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Or like a creature native and indu'd 180 

Unto that element ; but long it could not be 
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, 
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay 
T'O' muddy death. 

Laer. Alas ! then, she is drown'd ? 184 

Queen. Drown'd, drown'd. 

Laer. Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, 
And therefore I forbid my tears ; but yet 
It is our trick, nature her custom holds, 188 

Let shame say what it will ; when these are gone 
The woman will be out. Adieu, my lord ! 
I have a speech of fire, that fain would blaze. 
But that this folly douts it. Exit. 

King. Let's follow, Gertrude. 

How much I had to do to calm his rage ! 193 

Now fear I this will give it start again; 
Therefore let's follow. Exeunt. 



ACT FIFTH 

Scene One 

\^A Churchyard'] 

Enter two Clowns. 

[First] Clo. Is she to be buried in Christian 
burial that wilfully seeks her own salvation? 

Other. I tell thee she is; and therefore make 
her grave straight: the crowner hath sat on her, 
and finds it Christian burial. 5 

180 ind-a' 6.: endowed with qualities fitting her 188 trick.: custom 

190 woman; c/. w. _ 192 donts'. puts out, extinguishes 

S. d. Clowns: low comedians, or, peasants; cf. n. 
4 crowner: coroner sat on: passed on 



Prince of Denmark^ V, i 127 

[First] Clo. How can that be, unless she 
drowned herself in her own defence ? 

Other. Why, 'tis found so. 8 

[First] Clo. It must be se offendendo; it can- 
not be else. For here lies the point: if I 
drown myself wittingly it argues an act; and 
an act hath three branches; it is, to act, to do, 
and to perform: argal, she drowned herself 
wittingly. 

Other. Nay, but hear you, goodman delver, — 15 
[First] Clo. Give me leave. Here lies the 
water; good: here stands the man; good: if the 
man go to this water, and drown himself, it is, 
will he, nill he, he goes; mark you that? but if 
the water come to him, and drown him, he 
drowns not himself: argal, he that is not guilty 
of his own death shortens not his own life. 22 

Other. But is this law? 

[First] Clo. Ay, marry, is 't; crowner's quest 
law. 25 

Other. Will you ha' the truth on 't? If this 
had /not been a gentlewoman she should have 
been buried out o' Christian burial. 28 

[First] Clo. Why, there thou sayest; and the 
more pity that great folk should have counte- 
nance in this world to drown or hang them- 
selves more than their even Christian. Come, 
my spade. There is no ancient gentlemen but 
gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers; they 
hold up Adam's profession. 35 

Other. Was he a gentleman? 
[First] Clo. A' was the first that ever bore 
arms. 

9 se offendendo; cf. n. 12 branches: divisions [of learning} 

13 argal: corruption of ergo, therefore 15 delver: digger 

24 quest: in gw^ J* 32 even: fellow 37 bore arms; cf. n. 



128 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Other. Why, he had none. 39 

[First] Clo. What! art a heathen? How dost 
thou understand the Scripture? The Scripture 
says, Adam digged ; could he dig without arms ? 
I'll put another question to thee; if thou an- 
swerest me not to the purpose, confess thyself — 

Other. Go to. 45 

[First] Clo. What is he that builds stronger 
than either the mason, the shipwright, or the 
carpenter ? 

Other. The gallows-majker ; for that frame 
outlives a thousand tenants. 50 

[First] Clo. I like thy wit well, in good faith ; 
the gallows does well, but how does it well? it 
does well to those that do ill; now thou dost ill 
to say the gallows is built stronger than the 
church: argal, the gallows may do well to thee. 
To 't again ; come. 

Other. Who builds stronger than a mason, a 
shipwright, or a carpenter? 58 

[First] Clo. Ay, tell me that, and unyoke. 

Other. Marry, now I can tell. 

[First] Clo. To 't. 

Other. Mass, I cannot tell. 62 

Enter Hamlet and Horatio afar off. 

[First] Clo. Cudgel thy brains no more about 
it, for your dull ass will not mend his pace with 
beating; and, when you are asked this question 
next, say, 'a grave-maker:' the houses that he 
makes last till doomsday. Go, get thee to 
Yaughan; fetch me a stoup of liquor. 

[Exit other Clown.] 

44 confess thyself; cf. n. 59 unyoke; cf. n. 

68 Yaughan; cf. n. stoup: two quart measure 



Prince of Denmark j V, i 129 

[First Clown digs, and] sings. 

"In youth^ when I did love^ did love, 

Metliought it was very sweet, 70 

To contract, O ! the time, f or-a my behove, 

O ! methought there was nothing meet." 
Ham. Has this fellow no feeling of his busi- 
ness, that he sings at grave-making? 74 

Hor. Custom hath made it in him a property 
of easiness. 

Ham. 'Tis e'en so; the hand of little employ- 
ment hath the daintier sense. 78 

Clown sings. 

"But age, with his stealing steps. 
Hath claw'd me in his clutch. 
And hath shipped me intil the land. 

As if I had never been such." 82 

[Throws up a shull.] 
Ham. That skull had a tongue in it, and 
could sing once; how the knave jowls it to the 
ground, as if it were Cain's jaw-bone, that did 
the first murder! This might be the pate of a 
politician, which this ass now o'er-offices, one 
that would circumvent God, might it not? 88 

Hor. It might, my lord. 

Ham. Or of a courtier, which could say, 
'Good morrow, sweet lord! How dost thou, 
good lord?' This might be my Lord Such-a- 
one, that praised my Lord Such-a-one's horse, 
when he meant to beg it, might it not ? 94 

• Hor. A.J, my lord. 

69 In . . . love; cf. n. 71 hehow^: heneiit 

75 property of easiness; c/. n. 81 intil: tn^o 

84 jowls: dashes 87 o'er-offices: exercises his otnce over 



130 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Ham. Why, e'en so, and now my Lady 
Worm's; chapless, and knocked about the maz- 
zard with a sexton's spade. Here's fine revo- 
lution, an we had the trick to see 't. Did these 
bones cost no more the breeding but to play at 
loggats with 'em? mine ache to think on 't. 

Clown sings. 

"A pick-axe, and a spade, a spade, 102 

For and a shrouding sheet; 

O ! a pit of clay for to be made 
For such a guest is meet." 

[^Throws up another shull.l 

Ham. There's another; why may not that be 
the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities 
now, his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his 
tricks? why does he suffer this rude knave now 
to knock him about the sconce with a dirty 
shovel, and will not tell him of his action of 
battery? Hum! This fellow might be in 's time 
a great buyer of land, with his statutes, his re- 
cognizances, his fines, his double vouchers, his 
recoveries; is this the fine of his fines, and the 
recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine pate 
full of fine dirt? will his vouchers vouch him no 
more of his purchases, and double ones too, 
than the length and breadth of a pair of inden- 
tures? The very conveyance of his lands will 
hardly lie in this box, and must the inheritor 
himself have no more, ha ? 122 

97 chapless: lacking the lower jaw mazzard: head 

101 loggats; cf. n. _ _ 107 quiddities: subtleties 

108 quillets: minute distinctions tenures; cf. n, 110 sconce: head 

111 action of battery ; cf. n. 

113 recognizances; cf. n. statutes; cf. n. 

115 fines; cf. n. vouchers; cf. n. 

116 recoveries; cf. n. fine: end 

119 indentures: mutual agreements 120 conveyance; c/. «. 



Prince of Denmark^ V,i i3i 

Hor. Not a j ot more, my lord. 

Ham. Is not parchment made of sheep-skins? 

Hor. Aj, my lord, and of calf-skins, too. 125 

Ham. They are sheep and calves which seek 
out assurance in that. I will speak to this fel- 
low. Whose grave 's this, sir? 

[First] Clo. Mine, sir, 
"O ! a pit of clay for to be made 130 

For such a guest is meet." 

Ham. I think it be thine, indeed; for thou 
liest in *t. 

[First] Clo. You lie out on 't, sir, and there- 
fore it is not yours ; for my part, I do not lie in *t, 
and yet it is mine. 136 

Ham. Thou dost lie in 't, to be in 't and say 
it is thine: 'tis for the dead, not for the quick; 
therefore thou liest. 

[First] Clo. 'Tis a quick lie, sir; 'twill away 
again, from me to you. 

Ham. What man dost thou dig it for ? 142 

[First] Clo. For no man, sir. 

Ham. What woman, then? 

[First] Clo. For none, neither. 

Ham. Who is to be buried in 't ? 146 

[First] Clo. One that was a woman, sir; but 
rest her soul, she's dead. 

Ham. How absolute the knave is ! we must 
speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us. 
By the Lord, Horatio, these three years I have 
taken note of it; the age is grown so picked 
that the toe of the peasant comes so near the 

127 assurance: security ; cf. n. 149 absolute: precise 

150 by the card: with precision; cf. n. 152 picked: fastidious 



132 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe. How long 
hast thou been a grave-maker? 155 

[Firsf] Clo. Of all the days i' the year, I came 
to 't that day that our last King Hamlet over- 
came Fortinbras. 158 

Ham. How long is that since ? 

[Firsti Clo. Cannot you tell that? every fool 
can tell that; it was the very day that young 
Hamlet was born; he that is mad, and sent into 
England. 163 

Ham. Ay, marry; why was he sent into 
England ? 

[First] Clo. Why, because he was mad: he 
shall recover his wits there; or, if he do not, 'tis 
no great matter there. 168 

Ham. Why? 

[First] Clo. 'Twill not be seen in him there; 
there the men are as mad as he. 171 

Ham. How came he mad? 

[First] Clo. Very strangely, they say. 

Ham. How strangely? 174 

[First] Clo. Faith, e'en with losing his wits. 

Ham. Upon what ground? 

[First] Clo. Why, here in Denmark; I have 
been sexton here, man and boy, thirty years. 178 

Ham. How long will a man lie i' the earth 
ere he rot? 

[First] Clo. Faith, if he be not rotten before 
he die, — as we have many pocky corses now-a- 
days, that will scarce hold the laying in, — he 
will last you some eight year or nine year; a 
tanner will last you nine year. 

Ham. Why he more than another? 186 

154 kibe: chilblain 182 pocky: diseased 



Prince of Denmark ^ V, i 133 

[Firsf] Clo. Why, sir, his hide is so tanned 
with his trade that he will keep out water a great 
while, and your water is a sore decayer of your 
whoreson dead body. Here's a skull now; this 
skull hath lain you i' the earth three-and-twenty 
years. 192 

Ham. Whose was it? 

[First] Clo. A whoreson mad fellow's it was: 
whose do you think it was ? 

Ham. Nay, I know not. 196 

[Firsf] Clo. A pestilence on him for a mad 
rogue! a' poured a flagon of Rhenish on my 
head once. This same skull, sir, was Yorick's 
skull, the king's jester. 
Ham. This! 

[First] Clo. E'en that. 202 

Ham. Let me see. — [TaJces the skull.] — Alas ! 
poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of 
infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath 
borne me on his back a thousand times; and 
now, how abhorred in my imagination it is ! my 
gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I 
have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your 
gibes now.?* your gambols? your songs? your 
flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the 
table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your 
own grinning? quite chapf alien? Now get you 
to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint 
an inch thick, to this favour she must come; 
make her laugh at that. Prithee, Horatio, tell 
me one thing. 

Hor. What's that, my lord? 218 

189 sore: grievous 190 whoreson: plagued 215 iaxour: appearance 



134 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Ham. Dost thou think Alexander looked o' 
this fashion i' the earth? 

Hor. E'en so. 

Ham. And smelt so? pah! 222 

[Puts down the shull.^ 

Hor. E'en so, my lord. 

Ham. To what base uses we may return, 
Horatio ! Why may not imagination trace the 
noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping 
a bung-hole ? 227 

Hot. 'Twere to consider too curiously, to con- 
sider so. 

Ham. No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him 
thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to 
lead it; as thus: Alexander died, Alexander 
was buried, Alexander returneth into dust; the 
dust is earth; of earth we make loam, and why 
of that loam, whereto he was converted, might 
they not stop a beer-barrel? 
"Imperial Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay. 

Might stop a hole to keep the wind away : 238 

O ! that that earth, which kept the world in 
awe. 

Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw.*' 
But soft! but soft! aside: here comes the king. 

Enter King, Queen, Laertes, [a Priest,'] and a Coffin, 
with Lords attendant. 

The queen, the courtiers : who is that they follow ? 242 
And with such maimed rites? This doth betoken 
The corse they follow did with desperate hand 
Fordo it own life; 'twas of some estate. 

228 curiously: minutely 231 likelihood: probability 

240 f\.a.w : squall of wind 245 estate: rank 




Prince of Denmark ^ V. i 135 

Couch we awhile^ and mark. 246 

[Retiring with Horatio.^ 

LaeK. What ceremony else? 

Ham. That is Laertes, 

A very noble youth: mark. 

Laer. What ceremony else? 

Priest. Her obsequies have been as far enlarg'd 250 
As we have warrantise: her death was doubtful. 
And, but that great command o'ersways the order, 
She should in ground unsanctified have lodg'd 
Till the last trumpet; for charitable prayers, 254 

Shards, flints, and pebbles should be thrown on her; 
Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants. 
Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home 
Of bell and burial. 258 

Laer. Must there no more be done? 

Priest. No more be done: 

We should profane the service of the dead. 
To sing a requiem, and such rest to her 
As to peace-parted souls. 

Laer. Lay her i' the earth; 262 

And from her fair and unpolluted flesh 
May violets spring ! I tell thee, churlish priest, 
A ministering angel shall my sister be, 

ben thou liest howling. 
/ Ham. What ! the fair Ophelia ? 266 

Queen. Sweets to the sweet: farewell! 

[Scattering flowers. 1 
I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife ; 
I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid. 
And not have strew'd thy grave. 

250 enlarg'd: extended 

251 warrantise: warrant doubtful: suspicious 

255 Shards: fragments of pottery 256 crants: garlands; cf. n. 

257 strewments: flowers strewn on a grave 
262 ^&^CQ.-pai.rtG.&: departed in peace 



136 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Laer. O ! treble woe 270 

Fall ten times treble on that cursed head 
Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense 
Depriv'd thee of. Hold off the earth awhile, 
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms. 

Leaps into the grave. 
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead, 
Till of this flat a mountain you have made, 276 

To o'er-top old Pelion or the skyish head 
Of blue Olympus. 

Ham. [Advancing.'l What is he whose grief 
Bears such an emphasis } whose phrase of sorrow 279 
Conjures the wandering stars, and makes them stand 
Like wonder-wounded hearers ? this is I, 
Hamlet the Dane. [Leaps into the grave. '\ 

Laer. The devil take thy soul! 282 

[Grapples with him.'] 

Ham. Thou pray'st not well. 
I prithee, take thy fingers from my throat; 
For though I am not splenetive and rash 
Yet have I in me something dangerous, 286 

Which let thy wisdom fear. Away thy hand ! 

King. Pluck them asunder. 

Queen. Hamlet! Hamlet! 

All. Gentlemen, — 

Hor. Good my lord, be quiet. 

[The Attendants part them, and they come 

out of the grave.] 

Ham. Why, I will fight with him upon this 
theme 290 

Until my eyelids will no longer wag. 

Queen. O my son ! what theme ? 

272 vn.ge.m.on?,'. delicately sensitive 277 Pelion; c/. «. 

280 wandering stars: ^/onef^ 285 splenetive: quick-tempered 



Prince of Denmark ^ V. i 137 

Ham. I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers 
Could not, with all their quantity of love, 294 

Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her ? 

King. O ! he is mad, Laertes. 

Queen. For love of God, forbear him. 

Ham. 'Swounds, show me what thou'lt do: 
Woo't weep? woo't fight? [woo't fast?] woo't tear 
thyself ? 299 

Woo't drink up eisel? eat a crocodile? 
I'll do 't. Dost thou come here to whine? 
To outface me with leaping in her grave ? 302 

Be buried quick with her, and so will I : 
And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw 
Millions of acres on us, till our ground. 
Singeing his pate against the burning zone, 306 

Make Ossa like a wart ! Nay, an thou'lt mouth, 
I'll rant as well as thou. 

Queen. This is mere madness : 

And thus a while the fit will work on him; 
Anon, as patient as the female dove, 310 

When that her golden couplets are disclosed. 
His silence will sit drooping. 

Ham. Hear you, sir; 

What is the reason that you use me thus ? 
I lov'd you ever: but it is no matter; 314 

Let Hercules himself do what he may. 
The cat will mew and dog will have his day. Exit. 

King. I pray you, good Horatio, wait upon him. 

l^Exit Horatio.^ 

[To Laertes.'] Strengthen your patience in our last 

night's speech; 318 

297 forbear: leave alone 299 Woo't: wilt thou 

300 eisel: vinegar; cf. n. 306 hurning zone: path of the sun 
308 This . . . drooping; cf, n. 

311 golden couplets; cf. n. 318 in: in the thought of 



138 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

We'll put the matter to the present push. 

Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son. 

This grave shall have a living monument: 

An hour of quiet shortly shall we see; 322 

Till then, in patience our proceeding be. Exeunt. 

Scene Two 

\_A Hall in the Castle^ 

Enter Hamlet and Horatio. 

Ham. So much for this, sir: now shall you see the 
other ; 
You do remember all the circumstance? 

Hor. Remember it, my lord.^ 

Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of 
fighting 4 

That would not let me sleep ; methought I lay 
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly, — 
And prais'd be rashness for it, let us know, 
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well 8 

'' When our deep plots do pall ; and that should teach us 
There's a divinity that shapes our ends. 
Rough-hew them how we will. 

Hor. That is most certain. 

Ham. Up from my cabin, 12 

My sea-gown scarf'd about me, in the dark 
Grop'd I to find out them, had my desire, 
Finger'd their packet, and in fine withdrew 
To mine own room again; making so bold — 16 

My fears forgetting manners — to unseal 
Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio, 
O royal knavery ! an exact command, 

319 -prts&nt push.: immediate trial 321 living: lasting 

6 m.nt{n&5: mutineers hilhoes: shackles 9 pall: fail 

13 sea-gown; cf. n. 15 Finger'd: pilfered 



Prince of Denmark, V, ii ^^^ 

Larded with many several sorts of reasons 20 

Importing Denmark's healthy and England's too, 

With, ho ! such bugs and goblins in my life. 

That, on the supervise, no leisure bated. 

No, not to stay the grinding of the axe, 24 

My head should be struck off. 

Hor. Is 't possible? 

Ham. Here's the commission: read it at more 
leisure. 
But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed? 

Hor. I beseech you. 28 

Ham. Being thus be-netted round with villainies, — 
Ere I could make a prologue to my brains 
They had begun the play, — I sat me down, 
Devis'd a new commission, wrote it fair; 32 

I once did hold it, as our statists do, 
A baseness to write fair, and labour'd much 
How to forget that learning; but, sir, now 
It did me yeoman's service. Wilt thou know 36 

The effect of what I wrote? 

Hor, Ay, good my lord. 

Ham. An earnest conjuration from the king, 
. As England was his faithful tributary. 
As love between them like the palm should flourish, 40 
As peace should still her wheaten garland wear. 
And stand a comma 'tween their amities. 
And many such-like 'As'es of great charge. 
That, on the view and knowing of these contents, 44 
Without debatement further, more or less. 
He should the bearers put to sudden death, 
Not shriving-time alloW'd. 

22 bugs . . . life; cf. n. 23 supervise: perusal bated: deducted 

29 he-netted: ensnared 30 prologue . . . play; cf.n. 

33 statists: statesmen 36 yeoma.n's service: good and faithful service 

41 wheaten garland: emblem of peace 

42 comma: bond of connection; cf. n. 43 'As'es; cf. n. 
47 shriving-time : tim,e for absolution 



140 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Hor, How was this seal'd? 

Ham, Why, even in that was heaven ordinant. 48 
I had my father's signet in my purse, 
Which was the model of that Danish seal; 
Folded the writ up in form of the other, 
Subserib'd it, gave 't th' impression, plac'd it 
safely, 52 

The changeling never known. Now, the next day 
Was our sea-fight, and what to this was sequent 
Thou know'st already. 

Hor. So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to 't. 56 

Ham. Why, man, they did make love to this em- 
ployment ; 
They are not near my conscience; their defeat 
Does by their own insinuation grow. 
'Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes 60 

Between the pass and fell-incensed points 
Of mighty opposites. 

Hor. Why, what a king is this ! 

Ham. Does it not, think'st thee, stand me now 

upon — 
He that hath kill'd my king and whor'd my mother, 64 
Popp'd in between the election and my hopes. 
Thrown out his angle for my proper life, 
And with such cozenage — is 't not perfect conscience 
To quit him with this arm.f* and is 't not to be 

damn'd 68 

To let this canker of our nature come 
In further evil.^ 

48 ordinant: controlling 50 model: exact likeness 

52 Subserib'd: signed, or, addressed impression: i.e., of the seal 

53 changeling: substitute 

59 insinuation: artful intrusion 61 iell-incensed: cruelly angered 

62 opposites: opponents 63 stand . . . upon: vitally concern 

65 election; cf. n. 66 angle: fishing-hook 67 cozenage: cheating 



Prince of Denmark^ V, ii 14.1 

Hor. It must be shortly known to him from Eng- 
land 
What is the issue of the business there. 72 

Ham. It will be short: the interim is mine; 
And a man's life's no more than to say *One.' 
But I am very sorry, good Horatio, 
That to Laertes I forgot myself; 76 

For, by the image of my cause, I see 
The portraiture of his: I'll count his favours: 
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me 
Into a towering passion. 

Hor. Peace ! who comes here ? 80 

Enter young Osric. 

Osr. Your lordship is right welcome back to 
Denmark. 

Ham. I humbly thank you, sir. [^Aside to 
Horatio.'] Dost know this water-fly? 84 

Hor. [Aside to Hamlet.] No, my good lord. 

Ham. [Aside to Horatio.] Thy state is the 
more gracious; for 'tis a vice to know him. He 
hath much land, and fertile: let a beast be lord 
of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king's 
mess: 'tis a chough; but, as I say, spacious in 
the possession of dirt. 91 

Osr. Sweet lord, if your lordship were at 
leisure, I should impart a thing to you from his 
maj esty. 

Ham. I will receive it, sir, with all diligence 
of spirit. Your bonnet to his right use; 'tis for 
the head. 97 

Osr. I thank your lordship, 'tis very hot. 

78 count: make account of 79 bravery: ostentatious display 

84 water-fly; cf. n. 

90 mess; cf. n. chough: small chattering bird (?); cf. n. 



142 The Tragedy of Hamlet j, 

Ham. No, believe me, 'tis very cold; the 
wind is northerly. 100 

Osr. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed. 

Ham. But yet methinks it is very sultry and 
hot for my complexion. 103 

Osr. Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry, 
as 'twere, I cannot tell how. But, my lord, his 
majesty bade me signify to you that he has laid 
a great wager on your head. Sir, this is the 
matter, — 108 

Ham. I beseech you, remember — 

[Hamlet moves him to put on his hat.^ 

Osr. Nay, good my lord; for mine ease, in 
good faith. [Sir, here is newly come to court 
Laertes; believe me, an absolute gentleman, full 
of most excellent differences, of very soft society 
and great showing; indeed, to speak feelingly of 
him, he is the card or calendar of gentry, for you 
shall find in him the continent of what part a 
gentleman would see. 117 

Ham. Sir, his definement suffers no perdition 
in you; though, I know, to divide him invento- 
rially would dizzy the arithmetic of memory, and 
yet but yaw neither, iu respect of his quick sail. 
But, in the verity of extolment, I take him to be 
a soul of great article; and his infusion of such 
dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of 
him, his semblable is his mirror; and who else 
would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more. 

109 remember; cf. n. 

110 mine ease; c/. «. _ _ 112 absolute: perfect 
113 diSerences: distinguishing feattires soit: gentle 

115 card: directory 118 definement: description perdition: loss 

119 divide inventorially: catalogue 

121 yaw: stagger; cf. n. neither: too 

123 great article: large scope infusion: character imparted by nature 

125 semblable: /life g 126 trace: follozu umhrage: shadow 



Prince of Denmark j, V. ii 143 

Osr. Your lordship speaks most infallibly of 
him. 128 

Ham. The concernancy, sir? why do we wrap 
the gentleman in our more rawer breath? 

Osr. Sir? 

Hor. Is 't not possible to understand in an- 
other tongue? You will do 't, sir^ really. 133 

Ham. What imports the nomination of this 
gentleman ? 

Osr. Of Laertes ? 136 

Hor. His purse is empty already; all 's 
golden words are spent. 

Ham. Of him^ sir. 

Osr. I know you are not ignorant — 140 

Ham. I would you did, sir; in faith, if you 
did, it would not much approve me. Well, sir.] 

Osr. You are not ignorant of what excellence 
Laertes is — 

[Ham. I dare not confess that, lest I should 
compare with him in excellence; but, to know a 
man well, were to know himself. 147 

Osr. I mean, sir,] for his weapon ; [but in the 
imputation laid on him by them, in his meed 
he's unfellowed.] 

Ham. What's his weapon? 

Osr. Rapier and dagger. 152 

Ham. That's two of his weapons; but, well. 

Osr. The king, sir, hath wagered with him six 
Barbary horses; against the which he has im- 
poned, as I take it, six French rapiers and 

129 concernancy: meaning 130 more ra-wev: too unskilled 

132 another tongue; cf. n. 134 nomination: naming 

142 approve me: commend me 146 compare with: vie with 

149 imputation: reputation meed: m,erit, worth 

150 nnie.\\ov7ed: without an equal 155 imponed : j^c^e<i 



144 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

poniards, with their assigns, as girdle, hangers, 
and so: three of the carriages, in faith, are very 
dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most 
delicate carriages, and of very liberal conceit. 160 

Ham. What call you the carriages ? 

[Hor. I knew you must be edified by the mar- 
gent, ere you had done.] 

Osr. The carriages, sir, are the hangers. 164 

Ham. The phrase would be more german to 
the matter, if we could carry cannon by our 
sides; I would it might be hangers till then. 
But, on; six Barbary horses against six French 
swords, their assigns, and three liberal-conceited 
carriages; that's the French bet against the 
Danish. Why is this 'imponed,' as you call it? 

Osr. The king sir, hath laid, that in a dozen 
passes between yourself and him, he shall not 
exceed you three hits; he hath laid on twelve 
for nine, and it would come to immediate trial, 
if your lordship would vouchsafe the answer, 176 

Ham. How if I answer no ? 

Osr. I mean, my lord, the opposition of your 
person in trial. 

Ham. Sir, I will walk here in the hall; if it 
please his majesty, 'tis the breathing time of day 
with me; let the foils be brought; the gentleman 
willing, and the king hold his purpose, I will win 
for him an I can; if not, I will gain nothing but. 
- my shame and the odd hits. 185 

Osr. Shall I re-deliver you so? 

157 assigns: appurtenances hangers: straps from which a sword is 
suspended 

158 carriages: hangers 

159 dear to fancy: unusual in design responsive: corresponding 

160 delicate: finely wrought liberal conceit: tasteful design 

162 margent: commentary 165 german: appropriate 

174 twelve for nine; c/. n. 181 hreathing time: exercise period 



Prince of Denmark ^ V, ii 145 

Ham. To this effect, sir; after what flourish 
your nature will. 188 

Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship. 

Ham. Yours, yours. [Exit Osric.'] He does 
well to commend it himself; there are no 
tongues else for 's turn. 192 

Hor. This lapwing runs away with the shell 
on his head. 

Ham. He did comply with his dug before he 
sucked it. Thus has he — and many more of the 
same bevy, that I know the drossy age dotes 
on — only got the tune of the time and outward 
habit of encounter, a kind of yesty collection 
which carries them through and through the 
most fond and winnowed opinions; and do but 
blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out. 202 

[Enter a Lord. 

Lord. My lord, his majesty commended him 
to you by young Osric, who brings back to him, 
that you attend him in the hall; he sends to 
know if your pleasure hold to play with Laertes, 
or that you will take longer time. 207 

Ham. I am constant to my purposes; they 
follow the king's pleasure: if his fitness speaks, 
mine is ready; now, or whensoever, provided I 
be so able as now. 

Lord. The king, and queen, and all are com- 
ing down. 213 

Ham. In happy time. 

193 lapwing: peewit; cf. n. 

197 drossy: frivolous, or, composed of dross, unrefined 

198 tune: temper, humor, mood 199 yesty: frothy 
201 fond and winnowed; cf. n. 

214 In happy time: at an appropriate time 



146 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Lord. The queen desires you to use some 
gentle entertainment to Laertes before you fall 
to play. 217 

Ham. She well instructs me.] [Exit Lord.'\ 

Hor. You will lose this wager, my lord. 

Ham. I do not think so; since he went into 
France, I have been in continual practice; I 
shall win at the odds. But thou wouldst not 
think how ill all 's here about my heart; but it 
is no matter. 224 

Hor. Nay, good my lord, — 

Ham. It is but foolery; but it is such a kind 
of gain-giving as would perhaps trouble a 
woman. 228 

Hor. If your mind dislike any thing, obey it; 
I will forestall their repair hither, and say you 
are not fit. 231 

Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury; there's a 
special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it 
be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it 
will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: 
the readiness is all. Since no man has aught 
of what he leaves, what is 't to leave betimes? 
[Let be.] 238 

Enter King, Queen, Laertes and Lords, with other 

Attendants with foils and gauntlets, a table and 

flagons of wine on it. 

King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand 
from me. 

[The King puts the hand of Laertes into 

that of Hamlet.^ 
Ham. Give me your pardon, sir; I've done you 
wrong ; 

227 gain-giving: misgiving 



Prince of Denmark ^ V, ii i^.? 

But pardon 't^ as you are a gentleman. 

This presence knows. 

And you must needs have heard, how I am punish'd 

With sore distraction. What I have done, 244 

That might your nature, honour and exception 

Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness. 

Was 't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes ? Never Hamlet: 

If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, 248 

And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes, 

Then Hamlet does it not; Hamlet denies it. 

Who does it then? His madness. If 't be so, 

Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd; 252 

His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy. 

Sir, in this audience. 

Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd evil 

Free me so far in your most generous thoughts. 

That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house, 257 

And hurt my brother. 

Laer. I am satisfied in nature, 

Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most 
To my revenge; but in my terms of honour 260 

I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement. 
Till by some elder masters, of known honour, 
I have a voice and precedent of peace. 
To keep my name ungor'd. But till that time, 
I do receive your offer'd love like love, 265 

And will not wrong it. 

Ham. I embrace it freely; 

And will this brother's wager frankly play. 
Give us the foils. Come on. 

Laer. Come, one for me. 268 

Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes; in mine ignorance 

242 presence: royal assembly 245 e:x.ception: disapproval 

258 satisfied in nature ; c/. n. 263 voice: opinion 

264 ungor'd: uninjured 269 foil; cf. n. 



148 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Your skill shall^ like a star i' the darkest night, 
Stick fiery off indeed. 

Laer. You mock me, sir. 

Ham. No, by this hand. 272 

King. Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin 
Hamlet, 
You know the wager .f* 

Ham. Very well, my lord; 

Your Grace hath laid the odds o* the weaker side. 

King. I do not fear it ; I have seen you both ; 
But since he is better'd, we have therefore odds. 

Laer. This is too heavy; let me see another. 

Ham. This likes me well. These foils have all a 
length } 

Osr. Ay, my good lord. 280 

Prepare to play. 

King. Set me the stoups of wine upon that table. 
If Hamlet give the first or second hit. 
Or quit in answer of the third exchange. 
Let all the battlements their ordnance fire ; 284 

The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath; 
And in the cup an union shall he throw. 
Richer than that which four successive kings 
In Denmark's crown have worn. Give me the 
cups ; 288 

And let the kettle to the trumpet speak. 
The trumpet to the cannoneer without. 
The cannons to the heavens, the heavens to earth, 
'Now the king drinks to Hamlet!' Come, begin; 
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye. 293 

Ham. Come on, sir. 

Laer. Come, my lord. They play. 

271 Stick . . . oS: stand out in relief 

283 quit; cf. n. 286 union: pearl 289 kettle: kettledrum 



Prince of Denmark ^ V, ii 14.9 

Ham. One. 

Laer. No. 

Ham. Judgment. 

Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit. 

Laer. Well; again. 

King. Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is 
thine; 296 

Here's to thy health. Give him the cup. 

Trumpets sound; and shot goes off. 

Ham. I'll play this bout first ; set it by awhile. 
Come. — [They play.'] Another hit; what say you? 

Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess. 300 

King. Our son shall win. 

Queen. He's fat, and scant of breath. 

Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows; 
The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. 

Ham. Good madam ! 

King. Gertrude, do not drink. 304 

Queen. I will, my lord; I pray you, pardon me. 

King. [Aside.] It is the poison'd cup ! it is too late. 

Ham. I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by. 

Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face. 308 

Laer. My lord, I'll hit him now. 

King. I do not think 't. 

Laer. [Aside.] And yet *tis almost 'gainst my con- 
science. 

Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes. You but 
dally ; 
I pray you, pass with your best violence. 312 

I am afeard you make a wanton of me. 

Laer, Say you so? come on. [They] play. 

Osr. Nothing, neither way. 

301 isA: out of training 302 n2i^]dn: handkerchief 

313 wanton: spoiled child 



150 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Laer. Have at you now. 

In scuffling they change rapiers. 

King. Part them! they are incens'd. 

Ham. Nay^ come, again. [The Queen falls.'] 

Osr. Look to the queen there, ho! 

Hor. They bleed on both sides. How is it, my 
lord? 

Osr. How is it, Laertes? 

Laer. Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, 
Osric; 320 

I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery. 

Ham. How does the queen? 

King. She swounds to see them bleed. 

Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink, [ — O my dear 

Hamlet ! 323 

The drink, the drink;] I am poison' d. [Dies.] 

Ham. O villainy! Ho! let the door be lock'd: 
Treachery! seek it out. [Laertes falls.] 

Laer. It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain; 
No medicine in the world can do thee good ; 328 

In thee there is not half an hour of life; 
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, 
Unbated and envenom'd. The foul practice 
Hath turn'd itself on me ; lo ! here I lie, 332 

Never to rise again. Thy mother's poison'd. 
I can no more. The king, the king's to blame. 

Ham. The point envenom'd too ! — 
Then, venom, to thy work. Hurts the King. 

All. Treason! treason! 337 

King. O ! yet defend me, friends ; I am but hurt. 

Ham. Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned 
Dane, 
Drink off this potion ; — is thy union here ? 340 

316 S. d. Cf. n. 322 swounds: swoons 



Prince of Denmark ^ V, ii isi 

Follow my mother. King dies, 

Laer. He is justly serv'd; 

It is a poison temper'd by himself. 
Exchange forgiveness with me_, noble Hamlet: 
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee, 
Nor thine on me ! Dies. 

Ham. Heaven make thee free of it! I follow 
thee. 346 

I am dead, Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu ! 
You that look pale and tremble at this chance. 
That are but mutes or audience to this act, 349 

Had I but time, — as this fell sergeant, death. 
Is strict in his arrest, — O ! I could tell you — 
But let it be. Horatio, I am dead; 352 

Thou liv'st ; report me and my cause aright 
To the unsatisfied. 

Hor. Never believe it; 

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane: 
Here's yet some liquor left. 

Ham. As thou'rt a man, 356 

Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have 't. 
O good Horatio, what a wounded name. 
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me. 
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, 360 

Absent thee from felicity awhile. 
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain. 
To tell my story. 

March afar off, and shout within. 
What war-like noise is this } 

Enter Osric. 

Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from 
Poland, 364 



342 temper'd: compounded 
350 sergeant: sheriff's officer 



355 Roman; cf. n. 



152 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

To the ambassadors of England gives 
This war-like volley. 

Ham. O ! I die^ Horatio ; 

The potent poison quite o'er-erows my spirit: 
I cannot live to hear the news from England^i 368 

But I do prophesy the election lights 
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice; 
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less, 
Which have solicited — The rest is silence. Dies. 

Hor. Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet 
prince, 373 

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest ! 
Why does the drum come hither? 

Enter Fortinbras, and English Ambassador, with 
drum, colours, and Attendants. 

Fort. Where is this sight? 

Hor. What is it ye would see? 376 

If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search. 

Fort. This quarry cries on havoc. O proud death ! 
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell. 
That thou so many princes at a shot 380 

So bloodily hast struck? 

Amb. The sight is dismal; 

And our affairs from England come too late : 
The ears are senseless that should give us hearing, 
To tell him his commandment is fulfill' d, 384 

That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. 
Where should we have our thanks? 

Hor. Not from his mouth. 

Had it the ability of life to thank you: 387 

367 o'er-crows: overpowers 371 occurrents: incidents 

372 solicited: moved; cf. n. 374 Hights: troops 

378 quarry: heap of slain cries on kavoc: proclaims merciless 
slaughter (?) ; cf.n. 



Prince of Denmark^ V, ii 153 

He never gave commandment for their death. 

But since, so jump upon this bloody question, 

You from the Polack wars, and you from England, 

Are here arriv'd, give order that these bodies 

High on a stage be placed to the view; 392 

And let me speak to the yet unknowing world 

How these things came about: so shall you hear 

Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts. 

Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters; 396 

Of deaths put on by cunning and forc'd cause. 

And, in this upshot, purposes mistook 

Fall'n on the inventors' heads ; all this can I 

Truly deliver. 

Fort. Let us haste to hear it, 400 

And call the noblest to the audience. 
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune ; 
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom. 
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me. 404 

Hor. Of that I shall have also cause to speak. 
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more: 
But let this same be presently performed. 
Even while men's minds are wild, lest more mis- 
chance 408 
On plots and errors happen. , 

Fort. Let four captains 

Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage; 
For he was likely, had he been put on. 
To have prov'd most royally: and, for his pas- 
sage, 412 
The soldiers' music and the rites of war 
Speak loudly for him. 

392 stage: platform 396 casual: unpremeditated 

397 forc'd: unreal 403 rights of memory: ancient claims 

406 draw on more: be seconded by others 
411 been put on: been put to the proof, tried 



154 The Tragedy of Hamlet^ 

Take up the bodies : such a sight as this 
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss. 
Go, bid the soldiers shoot. 417 

Exeunt marching^ after the which, a peal of 

ordnance are shot off. 



NOTES 

Dramatis Personae. A list of characters was first 
given in the Quarto of 1676, although it is commonly 
stated that Rowe's edition of 1709 contained the first 
list. 

I. i. 3. Long . . . king! The pass-word or reply 
to the sentry's challenge. 

I. i. 15. Friends . . . Dane. Probably the officers* 
pass-word. 

I. i. 19. piece. A humorous expression equivalent 
to 'something like him/ or possibly Horatio means 
to imply that, because of his skepticism, he is with 
them in bodily form but not in intellectual sympathy, 
(Chambers.) 

I. i. 37. his. Regularly used for 'its.' The latter 
form had not yet come into common use. 

I. i. 42. scholar. Exorcisms of evil spirits were 
performed in Latin and hence by scholars. 

I. i. 45. It . . . to. It was believed that a ghost 
could not speak until spoken to. 

I. i. 63. sledded Polachs. Various suggestions have 
been made concerning the meaning of these words for 
the reason that the second Quarto and first Folio have 
'sleaded (Fl sledded) poUax' which conceivably could 
mean a poleaxe weighted with a sledge or hammer at 
the back. When, however, later references in the 
play to Polacks are taken into consideration, the 
meaning given in the gloss seems the more probable. 

I. i. 70. Good now. Inter j ectional expression 
denoting entreaty. 

I. i. 87. law and heraldry. The forms of both the 
common law and the law of arms having been duly 



156 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

observed. The latter would give the compact binding 
force in honor. Nobles who signed binding agree- 
ments were wont to have their coats of arms added 
to their signatures. 

I. i. 96. unimproved. Other conjectures are: 'not 
turned to account/ 'untutored/ 'undisciplined.' 

I. i. 98. list. Literally, a special catalogue of the 
soldiers of a force ; here used in the sense of an indis- 
criminately chosen crowd. 

I. i. 99. For . . . diet. For no pay but their 
keep. (Moberly.) Perhaps, however, the meaning is 
'as food and diet to keep the enterprise going.' 

I. i. 100. stomach. I.e., gives an opportunity for 
courage. With a quibble on the literal meaning. 

I. i. 117. As . . . blood. The abruptness of the 
transition in the sense has led some commentators to 
believe either (1) that there is a line missing, or 
(2) that 11. 121-125 should be inserted between 11. 116 
and 117. Attempts have also been made to emend 
the text by adding a conjectural line. 

I. i. 118. Disasters. In North's Plutarch, Julius 
Caesar, whence Shakespeare drew his account of the 
strange omens preceding Caesar's assassination, the 
sun was said to be darkened. 

I. i. 120. sich . . . doomsday. A reference to the 
Biblical account of the events to occur at the sfecond 
coming of the Son of Man. Cf. Matthew 24. 29 and 
Revelation 6. 12. 

I. i. 125. climatures. Possibly used for those who 
live under the same climate. (Clarendon.) 

I. i. 127. cross. The usual interpretation has been 
to accept this as meaning crossing the spot where an 
apparition had appeared, and thus sub j ecting Horatio, 
according to traditional ghost-lore, to the spectre's 
malignant influence. This explanation is rejected by 
Onions, who gives the reading of the gloss. 

I. i. 136. uphoarded. If while alive a person 



Prince of Denmark 157 

had hidden gold and placed it under a charm, it was 
necessary, for his soul's quiet, to release it from the 
spell. (Illustrated by Steevens from Dekker's 
Knight's Conjuring S) 

I. i. 140. partisan. A long-handled spear with a 
blade having one or more lateral cutting projections. 

I. i. 150. cock. It was a tradition that at cock- 
crow spirits returned to their confines. 

I. i. 162. planets strike. The malignant aspects 
of planets, according to the pseudo-science of astrol- 
ogy, were supposed to be able to injure incautious 
travellers by night. 

I. ii. 65. kin . . . kind. I.e., more than his actual 
kinship and less than a natural relation. 'Kind' is 
here used equivocally for 'natural' and also for 
'affectionate.* A proverbial expression occurring else- 
where in Elizabethan literature. 

I. ii. 67. i' the sun. Probably Hamlet means he 
is too much in the unwelcome sunshine of the King's 
favor. The reply is purposely enigmatical. There 
is a quibble on 'sun* and 'son.* 

I. ii. 113. Wittenberg. A famous German univer- 
sity, founded in 1502. 

I. ii. 140. Hyperion. The Titanic sun god, but 
here used for Apollo. 

I. ii. 149. Niobe. A daughter of Tantalus, who 
boasted that she had more sons and daughters than 
Leto. Consequently Apollo and Artemis slew her 
children with arrows, and she herself was turned by 
Zeus into a stone upon Mount Sipylus in Lydia, where 
she shed tears all the summer long. 

I. ii. 161. forget myself. I.e., or I have lost the 
knowledge even of myself. 

I. ii. 180. bak'd meats. It was an old custom to 
have a feast as part of the funeral ceremonies. 

I. ii. 198. vast. It here means emptiness, the time 
when no living thing was seen. 



158 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

I. iii. 7. violet. Early violets were proverbial 
examples of transitory things. 

I. iii. 26. place. The reading of the first Folio is 
'peculiar Sect and force.' 

I. iii. 53. double. I.e., because Laertes had al- 
ready taken leave of his father. 

I. iii. 56. wind ...of. Wind blowing from a 
stern quarter^ hence 'behind,' 'favorable.' 

I. iii. 58. precepts. Many parallels for several of 
these precepts have been discovered. 

I. iii. 74. Are . . . that. Various conjectures have 
been suggested: 'are most select and generous in that' 
(White) ; 'select and generous, are most choice in 
that' (Steevens) ; 'are most select and generous, 
chiefly in that.' The emendation of the text here 
followed is that commonly accepted. 

I. iii. 99. tenders. Polonius, in 1. 106, uses 'ten- 
ders' in the sense of promises to pay, which, as he 
says, are not 'legal currency.' 

I. iii. 115. woodcocks. The woodcock was sup- 
posed to be a witless bird easily snared. 

I. iv. 36. dram of eale. Possibly 'eale' is a cor- 
ruption of *e'il,' the contracted form of 'evil.' The 
rest of the passage is equally uncertain. The Cam- 
bridge Shakespeare records about forty conjectures. 
Dowden's conjecture seems to come nearest to the 
sense of the passage; 'out of a mere doubt or sus- 
picion the dram of evil degrades in reputation all the 
noble substance to its own [substance].' 

I. iv. 83. Nemean lions. One of the powerful 
monsters slain by Hercules. 

I. V. 21. blazon. Literally, to portray armorial 
bearings in their proper colors. 

I. V. 32. fat weed. It has been suggested that 
Shakespeare meant by this the asphodel referred to 
by Lucian in connection with Lethe. However, there 
is a reference in Seneca's Hercules Furens to the 
Taxus tree overleaning the quiet lake of Lethe. This 



Prince of Denmark 159 

is the Latin name for the yew tree^ which exudes a 
resinous substance from its leaves. It could^ there- 
fore^ be described as a 'fat weed.' 

I. V. 33. Lethe. A river (sometimes called a lake) 
of the Greek underworld, whose waters gave forget- 
fulness of the past to those who drank of them. 

I. V. 67. gates and alleys. Shakespeare here im- 
plies as much as was then known touching the circu- 
lation of the blood. (Hudson.) 

I. V. 80. horrible. The tradition of the stage 
assigns this line to Hamlet. It was so spoken by, 
among others, Garrick, Kemble, and Irving. Better- 
ton probably omitted it, for it is marked for omission 
in the Quarto of 1676. 

I. V. 136. Saint Patrick. He. was the keeper of 
purgatory; the patron saint of all blunders and con- 
fusion (Moberly) ; he banished serpents from Ireland, 
hence he was the proper saint to take cognizance of 
the report that a serpent stung Hamlet's father. 
(Dowden.) If Hamlet's oath requires any explana- 
tion, the first surmise appears the more probable. 

I. V. 138. honest ghost. I.e., an actual ghost, and 
not the devil or an evil spirit in disguise. Cf . Hamlet's 
doubt upon this point later. 

I. V. 154. sword. It was customary to swear upon 
the sword, because the hilt made the form of the 
cross. Such an oath was binding both in military 
honor and in religion. 

I. V. 167. your. Does not mean Horatio's phi- 
losophy, but refers to philosophy in general. 

II. i. 35. Of general assault. Chambers plausibly 
suggests that the meaning may be 'a passionate desire 
to assail all kinds of experience.' 

II. i. 119. More . . . love. The line is obscure, 
but Hudson paraphrases it as follows: 'By keeping 
Hamlet's love secret we may cause more of grief to 
others than of hatred on his part by disclosing it.' 



160 The Tragedy of Hamlet^ 

II. ii. 79. regards . . . allowance. I.e., terms 
securing the safety of the country and regulating the 
passage of troops through it. (Clarendon.) 

II. ii. 123. machine. Such endings were not un- 
common in Euphuistic letters. 

II. ii. 174. -fishmonger. The word is probably 
used here in some cant coarse sense, such as Vencher' 
or 'seller of women's chastity.' 

II. ii. 184. good hissing. I.e., carrion fit for kiss- 
ing by the sun. Warburton suggested the emendation 
'God kissing carrion' but there appears no necessity 
for accepting this. 

II. ii. 187. conception. There is a quibble here 
on conception as 'understanding' and as 'the state 
of being pregnant.' 

II. ii. 198. Between who? Hamlet deliberately 
misunderstands 'matter' to mean a cause of dispute. 

II. ii. 204. amber . . . gum. I.e., in reference to 
the exudings from the weak eyes of old men. 

II. ii. 237. on . . . button. I.e., we have not 
reached the summit of good fortune. 

II. ii. 244. strumpet. I.e., because of Fortune's 
fickleness. 

II. ii. 274. beggars bodies. I.e., if ambition is but 
a shadow, then monarchs and heroes, who have at- 
tained ambition, are in possession only of a shadow; 
whereas beggars, who have not attained ambition, at 
least possess something material — ^i.e., their bodies. 
But every beggar may long for ambition — a shadow — 
and hence the monarchs and heroes who are in pos- 
session of their ambitions, are but the beggars' shad- 
ows— i.e., have this shadow for which the beggar longs 
in vain. 

II. ii. 288. dear a halfpenny. Too dear at a half- 
penny, of insignificant value. 

II. ii. 328. quintessence. A term in alchemy. The 
fifth essence of ancient and mediaeval philosophy, sup- 
posed to be the substance of which the heavenly bodies 



Prince of Denmark i^i 

were composed, and to be actually latent in all things : 
hence, pure essence or extract, essential part of a 
thing. (Murray.) 

II. ii. 346. tickle o' the sere. Literally, the 'sere* 
is the catch of a gunlock that holds the hammer. 
Hence a trigger that goes off at a light touch. (Nich- 
olson.) 

II. ii. 356. innovation. This speech does not ap- 
pear in the Quarto of 1603 but does in the Quarto of 
1604. There are two conjectures as to the meaning: 
(1) On January 30, 1603-4, a license was granted to 
the children of the Revels to play at the Blackfriars 
Theatre and elsewhere; (2) or, it refers to the custom 
of introducing personal abuse into plays. Either 
might be described as an 'innovation.' 

II. ii. 362. aery. This refers to the young choris- 
ters of the Chapel Royal [and of St. Paul's] who 
acted plays. 

II. ii. 363. cry . . . question. This is also inter- 
preted as meaning 'exclaim against (lampoon) those 
who are at the top of their profession, (or, the best 
productions of the dramatic pen).' 

II. ii. 386. Hercules and his load. The reference 
may be to the sign of the Globe Theatre which repre- 
sented Hercules carrying the globe. The sign itself 
was an allusion to the story of Hercules relieving 
Atlas. 

II. ii. 407. handsaw. The phrase is proverbial. 
It has been conjectured that handsaw is a corruption 
of *her(o)nsew,' 'her(o)nshaw' — a heron or hern. It 
is probable, however, that Hamlet uses the corrupted 
form in its derived sense of being able to recognize 
two dissimilar objects. 

II. ii. 419. Roscius. A famous Roman actor whose 
intellectual capacities lifted him above the stigma 
usually attached to his profession. 

II. ii. 427. scene individahle. Probably a play 
which follows the classical rules relating to the three 



162 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

unities of time^ place, and action — hence usually a 
tragedy. Cf. note on Seneca below. 

II. ii. 428. poem unlimited. Probably a play 
which disregarded the unities; or, a comedy in which 
unlimited license was used in treating the material. 
Cf. note on Plautus below. 

II. ii. 428. Seneca. A Roman rhetorical writer 
of tragedies whose plays were during the Renaissance 
considered models of classic technique. See Appen- 
dix A for notes on Senecan influence in Hamlet. 

II. ii. 429. Plautus. A Roman comic dramatist 
who was the model for comedy technique during the 
Renaissance. Cf. The Comedy of Errors. 

II. ii. 429. law of writ and the liberty. There are 
two conjectures as to the meaning: (1) 'law of writ/ 
plays written according to the classical rules; and 
'liberty/ plays which do not follow these rules; 
(2) adhering to the text, hence, 'law of writ'; 
'liberty,' plays in which the dialogue was extem- 
porized by the actors, as in the Italian commedia 
dell' arte. This editor believes 'law of writ' to refer 
to 'tragedy,' (cf. scene individable) ; 'liberty' to refer 
to 'comedy,' (cf. poem unlimited). 

II. ii. 431. Jephthah. There were several old 
ballads on this subject. Cf. Percy's Reliques, 2d. 
ed., 1757, for a copy of one of the ballads. 

II. ii. 457. Cracked . . . ring. Having the circle 
broken that surrounds the sovereign's head on a coin. 
Here used quibblingly for a voice that has changed 
and hence is 'cracked' in its 'ring' or purity of tone. 
It is, of course, a boy actor of women's parts that 
Hamlet is addressing. 

II. ii. 466. Caviare . . . general. I.e., a delicacy 
for which the general public has no relish. 

II. ii. 469. digested. Cf. the Prologue to Troilus 
and Cressida, 23-29. 

II. ii. 471. no sallets . . . savoury. No ribaldry 
to spice the lines. 



Prince of Denmark 163 

II. ii. 475. handsome. I.e., its beauty was not 
that of elaborate diction or polish, but that of 
structure and proportion. 

II. ii. 477. Mneas' tale to Dido. The passage in- 
serted here should be compared with Marlowe and 
Nash's Dido, Queen of Carthage (1594), II. 1. 214 ff. 
It is a matter of critical dispute whether Shakespeare 
intended this passage as burlesque or whether he 
selected deliberately the earlier turgid romantic style 
to contrast with his more realistic dramatic method 
in this scene. The latter seems the more probable. 

II. ii. 481. Hyrcanian heast. The tiger. So de- 
scribed by Virgil. Cf. Mneid, IV. 366. 

II. ii. 485. ominous horse. The wooden horse in 
which the Greeks lay hidden until the Trojans 
dragged it within the walls. 

II. ii. 532. Hecuba. The wife of Priam. 

II. ii. 533. mobled. The first Folio has 'inobled/ 
which is probably a misprint. 'Mobled' is a debased 
form of 'muffled.' It is clearly Shakespeare's inten- 
tion to make use of an unusual word here, as may be 
seen by Hamlet's query and Polonius' approval. 

II. ii. 561. God's bodikins. A corruption of an 
oath 'by God's body.' 

II. ii. 573. dozen or sixteen lines. There has been 
much discussion concerning the possibility of identify- 
ing the passage written by Hamlet. Chambers 
(Warwick Shakespeare) suggests Lucianus' speech, 
III. ii. 270 ff., which is interrupted by the King's 
rising. Others point to the Player King's speech, 
III. ii. 198 ff., because its philosophy is characteristic 
of Hamlet. The question is not one to which an 
authoritative answer can be given. 

II. ii. 595. cue. A technical stage term for the 
last words of an actor's line to which another actor 
replied. 

II. ii. 603. John-a-dreams. Armin's Nest of Nin- 
nies (1608) contains the following definition: "His 



164 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

name is lohne, indeede, saies the cinick; but neither 
lohn-a-nods, nor lohn-a-dreames, yet either as you 
take Itt." 

II. ii. 605. property. His crown, his wife, every- 
thing, in short, which he might be said to be pos- 
sessed of, except his life. (Furness.) 

II. ii. 613. pigeon-liver' d. It was believed that 
pigeons were gentle because they had no gall. 

III. i. 59. take . . . troubles. Many commenta- 
tors have felt that this line contains a badly mixed 
metaphor and consequently have suggested various 
unnecessary emendations. The phrase 'sea of 
troubles,' in the sense of a 'mass of troubles,' however, 
occurs elsewhere in Elizabethan literature. Cf. 
Greene's Mamillia, ed. Grosart, vol. II., p. 18; 
"hauing himself escaped the seas of trouble and care," 
and Dekker's The Wonder of a Kingdome, ed. 1873, 
vol. IV., p. 230: 

I never heard mongst all your Romane spirits, 
That any held so bravely up his head. 
In such a sea of troubles (that come rouling 
One on anothers necke) as Lotti doth. 

III. i. 153. nickname. I.e., by painting your face 
and by your fashionable affectations you turn human 
beings (God's creatures) into figures that bear the 
same resemblance to reality that a nickname does to 
a Christian name. Or possibly this is an allusion to 
the Elizabethan court fashion of giving animal names 
to the various courtiers. 

III. ii. 12. groundlings. The inferior portion of 
the audience who paid a penny for standing room in 
the yard or pit. 

III. ii. 14. inexplicable dumb-shows. Pantomimes 
illustrating the subsequent action of the play, often 
so crudely performed that they were 'inexplicable.* 

III. ii. 16. Termagant. A noisy character repre- 



Prince of Denmark 165 

senting a supposed god of the Saracens in some of the 
mystery plays. 

III. ii. 16. out-herods. I.e., outdoes even the ex- 
travagant acting of the character of Herod in the 
mystery plays. Cf. the stage direction in the Coventry 
play of The Nativity, "Here Erode ragis in the 
pagond;, and in the strete also." 

III. ii. 45. there he of them, etc. Examples of 
gags and stage business introduced by clowns are 
found in The Pilgrimage to Parnassus, V: 

"if thou canst but drawe thy mouth awrye, laye 
thy legg over thy staffe, sawe a piece of cheese 
asunder with thy dagger, lape up drinke on the earth, 
I warrant thee theile laughe mightilie." 

III. ii. 89. Vulcan. He was the armorer of the 
gods. 

III. ii. 95. he idle. This may have its usual mean- 
ings of 'purposeless,' 'intent upon nothing in particu- 
lar.' So in King Lear, I. iii. 17. However, in Hall's 
Chronicles, the phrase 'ydle and weak in his wit' 
occurs. 

III. ii. 98. chameleon's dish. It was believed that 
chameleons fed on air. 

III. ii. 109. Julius Ccesar. The universities gave 
many representations within their walls of plays in 
Latin and English. A Latin play on Caesar's death 
was acted at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1582. Cf. 
also the title-page of the 1603 Quarto of Hamlet. 

III. ii. 110. Capitol. The murder of Caesar 
actually took place in the Theatre of Pompey, which 
stood in the Campus Martins. Shakespeare transfers 
the scene to the Capitol both in Julius Ccesar and in 
Antony and Cleopatra. 

III. ii. 144. hohby-horse. In the morris dance, a 
figure of a horse made of light material and fastened 
around the waist of a performer, who went through 
various antics. The quotation here may be from a 



166 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

ballad perhaps satirizing Puritan opposition to May-- 
games. 

III. ii. 146. S. d. The dumh-show enters. In 
Gorhoduc and many early plays a 'dumb-show' was 
introduced to give a pantomimic representation or 
suggestion of the action that was to follow. 

III. ii. 148. miching mallecho. Mallecho is from 
the Spanish malhecho, meaning 'mischief.' 

III. ii. 168. Tellus'. The goddess of the earth, 
who received and nourished the sown seed. 

III. ii. 229. sport and repose. Here the objects 
of the verb. 

III. ii. 252. duke's name. In the first Quarto the 
leading characters are called Duke and Duchess. In 
the second Quarto and the First Folio, except for this 
line, they are always King and Queen. In revising 
his play, Shakespeare overlooked this instance. 

III. ii. 260. interpret. At 'puppet shows' or 
'motions' the dialogue was spoken by a person con- 
cealed behind the stage. This was called 'interpret- 
ing.' 

III. ii. 268. The croaking . . . revenge. Cf. The 
True Tragedie of Richard the Third (p. 61, Shake. 
Soc. reprint) : 

The screeking raven sits croking for revenge, 
Whole herds of beasts come bellowing for revenge. 

III. ii. 273. Hecate. Diana, in her aspect as in- 
fernal goddess, was regarded as the queen of witches. 

III. ii. 282. false fire. A proverbial expression. 

III. ii. 287. deer go weep. It was a popular belief 
that the deer, when badly wounded, retires from the 
herd and goes apart to weep and die. 

III. ii. 293. Provincial roses. So called either 
from Provence, or from Provins, the latter a town 
forty miles from Paris. 

III. ii. 294. cry. Literally, a pack of hounds — 
here, troop or company. 



Prince of Denmark 167 

III. ii. 295. share. Theatrical companies were 
organized on a profit-sharing basis. 

III. ii. 297. Damon. An allusion to the classical 
story of the friendship of Damon and Pythias Tor 
Phintias). ^ 

III. ii. 300. pajock. Various conjectures, but in 
Scotland a peacock is often called a "peajock.*' 
Skeat, however, derives 'pajock' from patch/ a pied 
fool.' Spenser calls a ragamuffin a patchocke.' 

III. ii. 317. distempered. This word was used 
both of mental and of bodily disorder. Hamlet pre- 
tends to understand it in the latter sense. 

III.^ ii. 320. choler. The other meaning of 
'choler' is bilious disorder, and so again Hamlet pre- 
tends to misunderstand it. 

III. ii. 323. purgation. Another word of double 
meaning: (I) clearing from the accusation or suspi- 
cion of guilt; (2) purging in the medical sense. 

III. ii. 355. pickers and stealers. An allusion to 
the phrase in the Catechism, "Keep my hands from 
picking and stealing." 

III. ii. 365. 'While . . . grows.' A proverb of 
frequent occurrence. Cf. Heywood's Proverbs "while 
the grass groweth the horse sterveth," and Whet- 
stone's Promos and Cassandra (1578), "Whylst grass 
doth growe, oft sterves the seely steede." 

III. ii. 368. recover the wind of. A hunting term, 
meaning, keep watch upon (as upon the game, when 
following it down the wind). 

III. ii. 395. fret. Frets are stops of instruments 
of the lute or guitar kind. Hamlet also uses it 
quibblingly to mean 'annoy.' 

III. ii. 409. hent. An expression derived from 
archery; the bow has its 'bent' when it is drawn as 
far as it can be. 

III. ii. 419. Nero. He murdered his mother, 
Agrippina, 



168 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

III. iii. 37. primal. The curse of Cain. Cf. 
Genesis 4. 2. 

III. iii. 61. lies. Is sustainable^ as an action at 
law. 

III. iii. 80. full of bread. Cf. Ezekiel 16. 49. 

III. iv. 67. moor. With a quibble upon the mean- 
ing 'swarthy complexioned.' 

III. iv. 98. vice. The Vice was a stock character 
in the Moralities. Although personifying the weaker 
side of human nature, he was represented as a buffoon 
and supplied much of the comic element in these 
plays. 

III. iv. 102. shreds and patches. The usual inter- 
pretation is to assume that this refers to the motley 
dress of the Vice (cf. 'patch' = a 'pied fool'), but it 
may conceivably refer to the subjects the King rules, 
although no commentator gives authority for this 
assumption. 

III. iv. 169. master. A word has dropped out of 
the earlier texts, and the present emendation 'master' 
is derived from the fourth Folio. 

III. iv. 207. go hard But. Introduces a statement 
of what will happen unless overwhelming difficulties 
prevent it. 

IV. i. 40. so, haply, slander. Added by Capell. 
IV. ii. 29. The . . . body. A passage about 

which there have been many conjectures. If Hamlet 
is not designedly talking mere nonsense, a possible 
interpretation is: "The King is still alive (i.e., with 
his body), but he is not with the dead body (i.e., of 
Polonius)." 

IV. iii. 21. convocation. The commentators main- 
tain that this is an allusion to the famous Diet or 
convocation of the dignitaries of the German Empire 
held at Worms in 1521. It was before this Diet that 
Martin Luther was summoned to appear. There is 
no necessity of putting this far-fetched interpretation 
upon this passage. In John Wyclif's The Ave Maria, 



Prince of Denmark 169 

ed. E. E. T. S., p. 206, occurs: "the rotten body [of 
man] that is worms' meat." 

IV. V. S. d. Here the first Folio omits the Gentle- 
man, no doubt, as Collier suggested, to avoid the 
employment of another actor. 

IV. V. 20., S. d. The direction in the Quarto of 
1603 is, "Enter Ofelia playing on a lute, and her 
haire downe, singing." This is the basis for the 
traditional stage-business. 

IV. V. 25. cockle hat. The cockle hat, staff, and 
sandals were the guise of a pilgrim and often the 
disguise of a lover. Cf. Romeo's costume at the ball 
in Romeo and Juliet. The hat was so called from 
the custom of putting cockle-shells upon pilgrims' 
hats. The shell was used to denote that the pilgrim 
had been to the shrine of St. James of Compostella 
in Spain. 

IV. V. 42. owl . . . daughter. There is an old 
mediaeval legend that a baker's daughter was turned 
into an owl for refusing bread to our Lord. 

IV. V. 97. SwitBers. The kings of France em- 
ployed Swiss mercenaries as guards, and the term 
'Switzer' gradually became almost synonymous with 
'guard.' 

IV. V. 141. swoop stahe. A gambling term used 
when the winner clears the board of all the stakes. 

IV. V. 145. life-rendering pelican. It was a 
common belief that the pelican either fed its young 
or restored them to life when dead with its own blood. 
It was thus an emblem of self-sacrifice. 

IV. V. 164. Hey non nonny. Such meaningless 
refrains are common in old songs. Cf. 169, 'a-down.' 

IV. V. 171. wheel. Although this word is usually 
rendered 'burden,' 'refrain,' it is possible that Ophelia 
is referring to singing at the spinning wheel. 

IV. V. 171. false steward. This ballad or story 
is unknown at the present day. 



170 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

IV. V. 174. rosemary. Flower symbolism was an 
elaborate system in mediaeval and Elizabethan Eng- 
land. Cf. The Handfull of Pleasant Delights (1684) : 

Bosemarie is for remembrance, 

betweene vs dale and night: 
Wishing that I might alwaies haue 

you present in my sight. 

Rosemary was also often strewn on biers. Cf. Romeo 
and Juliet, IV. v. 79 ; Winter's Tale, IV. iii. 74. 

IV. V. 176. pansies. French, penseesj a country 
emblem of love and courtship. 

IV. V. 180. rue. It was usually mingled with holy 
water and then known as 'herb of grace.' Hence 
"we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays." Worm- 
wood, the emblem of remorse, was likewise called herb 
of grace. 

IV. V, 182. difference. An heraldic bearing, dis- 
tinguishing the arms of one branch of the same family 
from another. Ophelia implies that for the Queen 
rue signifies the remembrance of things to be re- 
pented, for herself — regret. Thus the "difference." 

IV. V. 186. For . . . joy. The music for this 
song is contained in Anthony Holborne's Citharn 
Schoole (1597). It is probably a Robin Hood ballad 
now lost. 

IV. V. 189. And . . . again. This song appears 
under the titles : The Merry Milkmaids and The Milk- 
maids' Dumps. 

IV. vii. 20. spring. There are several springs in 
England whose water is so heavily charged with lime 
that they will petrify with a deposit of lime any 
object placed in them. There is one at King's 
Newnham in Warwickshire and another at Knares- 
borough in Yorkshire. 

IV. vii. 21. gyves. I.e., would turn punishments 
inflicted upon Hamlet into proofs of his good qualities. 

IV. vii. 23. reverted. I.e., the loud wind' of 



Prince of Denmark I7i 

popular affection for Hamlet would have caused 
Claudius' shafts to recoil upon himself. 

IV. vii. 27. praises . . . again. I.e., if praises 
may return to what is now no more — viz.^ Ophelia's 
natural charm. 

IV. vii. 28. challenger on mount. I.e., her worth 
challenged all the age to deny her perfection. 'Of 
all the age' qualifies 'challenger/ not 'mount.' 

IV. vii. 40. Claudio. A character who does not 
appear in the play. 

IV. vii. 76. siege. Literally *seat_,' thence 'rank/ 
because people sat at table in order of precedence. 

IV. vii. 87. incorps'd and demi-natur'd. I.e., like 
a Centaur, half horse, half man; Literally, of one 
body with and half partaking of the nature of his 
horse. 

IV. vii. 89. in . . . tricks. I.e., I could not con- 
trive so many proofs of dexterity as he could per- 
form. 

IV. vii. 96. masterly report. I.e., a report de- 
scribing Laertes as a master of fence. 

IV. vii. 112. passages of proof. I.e., instances 
from practical experience of the world. 

IV. vii. 117. plurisy. Often used where today 
one would say 'plethora.' 

IV. vii. 122. spendthrift sigh. A satisfactory 
paraphrase has not as yet been suggested. The 
meaning is probably: "the recognition of a 'should' 
when it is too late is like a wasteful or supererogatory 
sigh, which pains even while giving relief." The 
difficulty lies in the adjectival use of 'spendthrift.' 

IV. vii. 138. pass of practice. It may mean 
either (1) a treacherous thrust, or (2) a thrust in 
which you are practised. The former is more prob- 
able. 

IV. vii. 141. mountebank. These men were 
quack-doctors who journeyed from town to town sell- 
ing miraculous remedies and forbidden poisons. 



172 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

IV. vii. 145. moon. It was believed that to gather 
herbs by moonlight added to their medicinal value. 
It is possible, however, that here the meaning is 
simply 'on earth.' 

IV. vii. 155. cunnings. The first Folio reads 
commings, possibly fencing bouts. Cf. Cotgrave: 
Venue — a comming; also, a vennie in fencing. 

IV. vii. 170. crow- flowers. It is probable that 
Shakespeare is still carrying on his flower symbolism 
in the garlands worn by Ophelia. Thus the crow- 
flower was also called 'the fair maid of France' ; long 
purples were said to represent the cold hand of 
death; nettles meant 'stung to the quick'; and the 
daisy sometimes imported 'pure virginity' or 'spring 
of life.' (Parkinson.) 

IV. vii. 190. woman. I.e., when these tears are 
shed the woman in me, what I have inherited from 
my mother, will have come out. 

V. i. S. d. Clowns. The term applies both to 
peasants and to actors of low comedy roles. In stage 
directions it usually means the latter. 

V. i. 9. se offendendo. The clown's mistake for 
se defendendo, which would itself be a mistake, since 
this was the verdict in the case of justifiable homicide. 

V. i. 37. hore arms. A quibble on bearing a coat 
of arms and the literal meaning. 

V. i. 44. confess thyself. Half of an old proverb. 
The rest was 'and be hanged.' Or possibly 'confess 
thyself a fool.' 

V. i. 59. unyohe. Literally, 'you may then free 
your cattle from the yoke'; hence, 'your day's work 
is done.' 

V. i. 68. Yaughan. Some ale-house is probably 
intended, perhaps the one attached to the Globe 
theatre. The name is Welsh and, therefore, is not 
necessarily a corruption of the German, 'Johann,' as 
has been suggested by some commentators. 



Prince of Denmark 173 

V. i. 69. In . . . love. This song, by Lord Vaux, 
is found in TotteFs Miscellany (1557), p. 173, under 
the title The aged louer renounceth loue, although 
the Clown sings a confused and blundering version 
of it. 

V. i. 75. property of easiness. I.e., custom has 
made it natural to him to take his task easily. 

V. i. 101. log gats. A game in which thick sticks 
are thrown to lie as near as possible to a stake fixed 
in the ground or to a block of wood on a floor. 

V. i. 108. tenures. The act, right, or manner of 
holding, as real estate, property of a superior ; manner 
in, or period for, which anything is had and enjoyed. 

V. i. 111. action of battery. Right to sue for an 
unlawful attack by beating and wounding. 

V. i. 113. recognizances. Bonds or obligations of 
record testifying the recognizor to owe to the recog- 
nizee a certain sum of money. 

V. i. 113. statutes. Particular modes of recogni- 
zance or acknowledgement for securing debts, which 
thereby became a charge upon the party's land. 
(Ritson.) 

V. i. 114. vouchers. Persons who are called upon 
to warrant a tenant's title. 

V. i. 116. fines, recoveries. Processes by which 
entailed estates were commonly transferred from one 
party to another. 

V. i. 120. conveyance. Document by which trans- 
ference of property is effected. 

V. i. 127. assurance. Also used with quibble on 
its legal meaning 'evidence of the conveyance or set- 
tlement of property.' 

V. i. 150. hy the card. There are two conjectures 
as to the original meaning: (1) that 'card' refers to 
the card on which the thirty-two points of the mari- 
ner's compass are marked, hence 'precision'; (2) that 
it alludes to the 'card' or 'calender' of etiquette. Cf. 
Osric's use of the word. 



174 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

V. i. 256. crants. Garlands appear to have been 
borne before the bodies of unmarried women to the 
grave^ and were hung up in church. 

V. i. 277. Pelion. Pelion, Olympus, and Ossa 
(1. 305) are three mountains in the north of Thessaly. 
The Titans, warring with the gods, are said to have 
attempted to pile O^sa on Pelion in an effort to scale 
Olympus. 

V. i. 300. eisel. Some commentators have taken 
this word for the name of a river, but there seems no 
plausible basis for such an interpretation. Cf. The 
Salisbury Primer (1555): "I beseech thee for the 
bitterness of the aysell and gall that thou tasted." 

V. i. 308. This . . . drooping. The first Folio 
assigns this speech to the King. 

V. i. 311. golden couplets. The dove lays but two 
eggs and the young, when first disclosed, are covered 
with a yellow down. Cf. III. i. 174. 

V. ii. 13. sea-gown. "A coarse, high-collared and 
short-sleeved gown, reaching down to the mid leg, and 
used most by seamen and sailors." (Onions.) 

V» ii. 22. bugs . . . life. I.e., with such enumera- 
tion of bugbears and imaginary terrors if Hamlet 
were allowed his life. 

V. ii. 30. prologue . . . play. I.e., before I had 
formed my real plan, my brains had done their work. 

V. ii. 42. comma. There have been many con- 
jectures, but the meaning of the text appears obvious 
as it stands. 

V. ii. 43. *As'es. A quibble on 'as,' the conditional 
particle, and 'ass,' the beast of burden. 

V. ii. 65. election. The Danish throne was elec- 
tive. 

V. ii. 84. water- fly. Used for a vain or idly busy 
person, but probably also with reference to the gaudy 
attire of the foolish courtier. 

V. ii. 90. mess. "One of the groups of persons, 



Prince of Denmark i"^^ 

normally four, into which the company at a banquet 
was divided." (Onions.) 

V. ii. 90. chough. This word also meant, some- 
times, a provincial boor — but it is hardly likely that 
a "water-fly" whose crib stood at the King's mess 
was a mere provincial boor, nor does Osric's affected 
courtier speech correspond to this description. Cf. 
also 193, 'lapwing.' Nevertheless, many commenta- 
tors so interpret it. 

V. ii. 109. remember. The phrase 'remember thy 
courtesy' was a conventional one for 'be covered.' Cf. 
Love's Labour's Lost, V. i. 106. 

V. ii. 110. mine ease. This again was the con- 
ventional apologetic reply for declining the invitation 
of 'remember thy courtesy.' 

V. ii. 121. yaw. Nautical figure; the literal mean- 
ing is difficult to define precisely, but the sense of the 
line appears to be 'and yet but stagger in the attempt 
to overtake his perfections.' Osric is himself puzzled 
as Hamlet intended he should be. 

V. ii. 132. another tongue. I.e., in plain language, 
instead of in this affected courtier speech. 

V. ii. 174. twelve for nine. The exact details of 
this wager are a matter of doubt. The meaning 
probably is that in every dozen passes Laertes will 
not score more than twelve hits to Hamlet's nine. 
It might, therefore, take twenty-one passes to decide 
this. 

V. ii. 193. lapwing. It was said when newly 
hatched to run about with the shell on its head. 

V. ii. 201. fond and winnowed. This phrase has 
not been satisfactorily explained. The metaphor is 
a mixed one. "Fond" means "foolish," and "win- 
nowed," according to Craig, "sensible." That is, this 
"yesty collection" gives the appearance of being able 
to range through all shades of opinions from foolish 
to wise, but subject them to a real test and "the 
bubbles are out." 



176 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

V. ii. 258. satisfied in nature. Though his natural 
tendency is to be satisfied with Hamlet's explanation, 
yet his artificial honor as a courtier requires that the 
matter shall be adjudicated. 

V. ii. 269. foil. That which sets something off to 
advantage, with a quibble on the meaning 'fencing 
foil.' 

V. ii. 277. bettered. Some commentators take this 
to mean 'stands higher in reputation.' 

V. ii. 283. quit. I.e., requite Laertes' winning of 
the first two bouts by gaining the third. 

V. ii. 316. S. d. The usual method of representing 
upon the stage this exchange of rapiers is as follows: 
With a quick thrust Hamlet disarms Laertes. As the 
foil drops, Hamlet places his foot upon it, and, with 
a bow, offers Laertes his own in exchange. Courtesy 
compels Laertes to accept this, after which Hamlet 
stoops, picks up Laertes' foil from the ground, and 
resumes the bout. 

V. ii. 355. Roman. It was a Roman custom to 
follow masters in death. 

V. ii. 372. solicited. The sentence is left un- 
finished. 

V. ii. 378. cries on havoc. Originally, to give an 
army the order 'havoc !' as the signal for pillaging. 



APPENDIX A 

Sources of the Play 

There are two early references to the name 'Ham- 
let/ one in The Annals of Ireland by the Four 
Masters,^ under the year 917, and the other in Snorri's 
Prose Edda, about three centuries later. The outline 
of the story of Hamlet, as we are familiar with it, is 
first found in the Historia Danica of Saxo Grammat- 
icus, a Danish chronicler who lived at the end of the 
twelfth century. 

Saxo's version contains the following elements in 
common with Shakespeare's: the murder of Hamlet's 
father by the latter's ambitious brother ; the mother's 
incestuous marriage with the murderer; the son's 
feigned madness, or "folly," for the purpose of 
carrying out his revenge; a foreshadowing of the 
character of Ophelia by the girl thrown in Hamlet's 
way that the true state of his mind may be discov- 
ered; a foreshadowing of the character of Polonius; 
the scene between mother and son;^ the voyage to 
England with two companions, during which Hamlet 
alters the letter, and the companions are put to death 
in his stead; Hamlet's return to kill his uncle, a deed 
which he accomplishes. The ending differs. 

Fran9ois de Belle-Forest published in 1570 a free 
translation of Saxo's Hamlet story in French prose 
in the fifth book of his Histoires Tragiques. Although 
many editions of this appeared in France before 1600, 
there is no evidence of an English version before the 
publication by Thomas Pavier of the Hystorie of 

1 Cf . the Introduction to Gollancz's Hamlet in Iceland. 

2 Cf. Hamlet, III. iv. 



178 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

Hamhlet in 1608. This English translation differs 
in a few particulars from Belle-Forest, and these 
differences seem to be due to the influence of Shake- 
speare's play. Thus, in Belle-Forest the counsellor 
who acts the spy during Amleth's (Hamlet's) inter- 
view with his mother, conceals himself under a bed- 
quilt, upon which Amleth leaps when entering the 
room and so discovers the eavesdropper. In the 
Hystorie, the counsellor hides behind the arras, as in 
the play. Again, Hamblet, at the moment of this 
discovery, calls out "A rat! A rat!", of which there 
is no trace in Belle-Forest. 

There is one other conjectural source for Shake- 
speare's play, viz., an earlier play by another author 
on the same subject. The evidence for the existence 
of such a work is as follows: In 1589 was published 
Greene's Menaphon with a prefatory epistle by 
Thomas Nash "to the Gentlemen Students of both 
Vniuersities." In this epistle, Nash briefly reviews 
contemporary literature and refers to "whole Ham- 
lets, I should say HandfuUs of tragical speeches," 
linking this remark with a reference to Seneca. 

The next reference to an early play of Hamlet is 
from the Diary of Philip Henslowe,^ the theatrical 
manager, for the year 1594. 

"Ye 9 of June 1594. R[eceive]d. at hamlet, viijs". 
At this time the Lord Chamberlain's and the Lord 
Admiral's men were playing for Henslowe at the 
theatre at Newington Butts. The former company 
was the one to which Shakespeare belonged. 

Lodge's Wifs miserie, and the World's madness, 
published in 1596, contains this passage: "[Hate 
Virtue is] a foul lubber, and looks as pale as the 
wisard of the ghost, which cried so miserably at the 
theator, like an oyster-wife, Hamlet reuenge." 

1 The entry differs from those Henslowe made when the 
play mentioned was a new one. 



Prince of Denmark i'^^ 

This cumulative evidence is conclusive of the exist- 
ence of a play on the subject of Hamlet at an earlier 
date than any surviving Shakespeare quarto. 

The general consensus of opinion is that the earlier 
play was by Thomas Kyd, the author of the Spanish 
Tragedie. Nash's preface to Greene's Menaphon, 
already alluded to^ contains a punning reference to 
"the Kidde in Aesope's fable." Kyd's known plays 
show marked Senecan influence.^ The probability 
that Kyd was the author of the earlier Hamlet is 
further substantiated by resemblances between the 
Spanish Tragedie and Shakespeare's Hamlet. In 
both the motive is revenge; the ghost of the victim 
relates his story; the hero feigns madness; in each 
play there is a faithful friend named Horatio; each 
contains a play within a play ; the innocent and guilty 
alike are involved in the catastrophes. 

Although no actual trace of this earlier play has 
been found, many scholars believe that a German 
manuscript, dated October 27, 1710, and published 
in 1781, preserves some material from the original 
version. This manuscript is possibly a modernized 
copy of an older one which was first translated when 
a troupe of English actors visited Germany at the 
end of the sixteenth century.^ The German play is 
entitled, Der Bestrafte Brudermord oder: Prinz 
Hamlet aus Ddnemark. (Fratricide Punished, or 
Prince Hamlet of Denmark) . It opens with an 
allegorical prologue which shows unmistakable Sene- 
can influence. Likewise Polonius is here called 
Corambus, which corresponds with his name 'Coram- 
bis' in the first Quarto. Otherwise this German play 
is exceedingly crude and coarse, although the outline 

1 He was also the translator of a Seneca-like tragedy 
entitled Cornelia, by the French tragic writer Garnier. 

2 On the other hand, the earliest reference known to a 
performance of Hamlet by English actors in Germany is 
in the year 1626. 



180 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

of the plot action follows Shakespeare's closely. It 
is, however, devoid of all literary merit. 

To sum up: the story of Hamlet was taken by 
Belle-Forest from Saxo's chronicle. Shakespeare 
received it either from Belle-Forest, direct, or from 
an earlier unknown publication of the translation of 
Belle-Forest of which the Hystorie of Hamhlet is a 
later edition, or he founded his play on an earlier 
tragedy which was probably by Thomas Kyd. The 
traces of Senecan influence in Shakespeare's Hamlet 
are due either to this earlier play or to the general 
and common influence of Seneca upon Elizabethan 
tragic playwrights. 



APPENDIX B 

History of the Play 

The stage history of Hamlet is practically that 
of the English-speaking stage itself. Almost all the 
great actors of England and America, from Shake- 
speare's day to this, have appeared as the Prince. 
In addition, for the past one hundred years, it has 
been frequently played in the principal European 
countries. It is safe to say that no other play of 
Shakespeare's has been more often performed. 

Richard Burbage, the leading actor of Shake- 
speare's company, was undoubtedly the first Hamlet. 
From the meagre accounts of his style of acting which 
have survived, we may infer that, like subsequent 
great interpreters of the part, he was distinguished 
for the ease and naturalness of his art. 
' After the Restoration, Thomas Betterton achieved 
great fame in this role. He was instructed in his 
interpretation by Sir William Davenant, who had 
seen the Blackfriars' company act the play. Better- 
ton for the first time introduced scenery into Hamlet, 
and, if we are to trust the Quarto of 1676, established 
many of the traditions subsequently followed in 
acting versions. 

David Garrick was the leading interpreter of 
Hamlet during the middle portion of the eighteenth 
century. He first appeared in the part on November 
16, 1734, and continued to play it many times until 
he left the stage in 1776. Garrick introduced altera- 
tions of his own into the text, the chief of which was 
the omission of the churchyard scene (V. i.), but he 
was not followed by others in this. The latter 
years of the eighteenth century saw what many to 



182 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

this day consider must have been the greatest Hamlet 
of them all, John Philip Kemble, with his sister, Mrs. 
Siddons, as Ophelia. Kemble restored the text as 
written by Shakespeare and abolished the Garrick 
innovations. 

The nineteenth century has witnessed, in England 
and America, a number of excellent Hamlets, of whom 
the best remembered are Edmund Kean, Macready, 
Samuel Phelps, Fechter, Edwin Booth, Sir Henry 
Irving, Wilson Barrett, Sir Herbert Tree, Martin 
Harvey, Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, and E. H. 
Sothern. In addition to the list of famous Hamlets, 
many of the leading actresses have, at one time or 
another, played Gertrude or Ophelia. 

The most artistic and remarkable of the modern 
productions of Hamlet was that designed a few years 
ago by Gordon Craig for the Art Theatre in Moscow. 
Nor is there any indication that the popularity of this 
play upon the stage has dimmed. It still remains the 
test of the summit of achievement for the art of a 
tragic actor. 



APPENDIX C 
The Text 

Three versions of Hamlet have survived. These 
are: the Quarto^ of 1603; the Quarto of 1604; and 
the text of the First Folio (1623). All three of these 
texts differ from each other. Modern texts are based 
upon the Quarto of 1604 and the First Folio. 

The Quarto of 1603 offers many perplexing prob- 
lems. It is a brief ^ and mutilated text and the order 
of the scenes varies from that of the two accepted 
texts. The title-page is as follows: 

THE I Tragicall Historic of | HAMLET | Prince 
of Denmarke \ By William Shake-speare. | As it hath 
beene diuerse times acted by his Highnesse Ser- 
uants in the Cittie of London: as also in the two V- 
niuersities of Cambridge and Oxford, and else-where 
[Vignette] \ At London printed for N. L. and lohn 
Trundell. | 1603. 

It is probable that this text was a pirated edition 
based upon notes taken in shorthand during a perform- 
ance at the theatre. The differences, however, in the 
order of the scenes, the alteration in the conception 
of Gertrude's character, the almost total omission of 
the soliloquies, and the less subtle and elaborate 
dialogue throughout would seem to indicate that 
Hamlet was thoroughly revised before the publication 
of the second Quarto in 1604. Last of all, as tending 
to confirm this supposition, is the fact that certain 
of the characters appear under altered names in the 

iThe text is published in Furness' Variorum Hamlet, 
vol. II. 

2 It is about half the length of the Quarto of 1604. 



184 The Tragedy of Hamlet, 

later text; Corambis becomes Polonius, and Montano, 
Reynaldo.^ 

The text of the present edition is substantially that 
of Craig's Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford University 
Press). 

The departures from this are of three kinds: 
(1) the stage directions of the first Folio (1623) or 
of the second Quarto (1604) have been restored 
wherever these existed, additional stage directions not 
found in the two original texts being placed in square 
brackets; (2) passages or whole lines occurring in 
the second Quarto, but not in the first Folio, have 
been enclosed in square brackets; (3) in a few in- 
stances a return has been made to the reading of the 
first Folio when the editor was of the opinion that an 
emendation of the text was unnecessary. 

The following is a list of the alterations of the 
Craig text under (3), the words of the present text 
and of the first Folio preceding the colon, those of 
Craig's text following it. Minor changes of spelling 
and punctuation have not been noted. 

I. ii. 82 moods : modes 

I. ii. 190 Saw? Who?: Saw who? 

I. ii. 191 The king, my father?: The king, my father! 

I. ii. 200 Arm'd at all points : Armed at points 

I. ii. 216 it: its 

I. iii. 109 Roaming: Running 

I. iii. 130 bonds : bawds 

I. iv. 45 father, royal Dane; O! answer: father; royal 

Dane, O! answer 
I. iv. 79 wafts : waves 

I. v. 107 My tables, my tables: My tables 
I. V. 133 hurling: whirling 

I. V. 174 or thus, head shake; or this head-shake 

II. ii. 45 God, one: God and 

II. ii. 324 in form and moving: in form, in moving 
II. ii. 388 [delete] 'very' 

1 Cf . also "Duke" and "Duchess" in place of King and 
Queen in The Murder of Oonzago; and "First Centinel" for 
Francisco. 



Prince of Denmark 



185 



II. ii. 448 abridgments come: abridgment comes 

Il.ii. 463 my lord?: my good lord 

II. ii. 483 arms: arm 

III. i. 117 you: thee 

Ill.ii. 43 with us, sir: with us 

III. ii. 313 loves : love 

III. ii. 383 excellent: eloquent 

IV. vii. 93 Lamond: Lamord 
V.i.345 it: its 

V ii.358 O good Horatio: O God! Horatio 



APPENDIX D 

Suggestions for Collateral Reading 

William Hazlitt in Characters of Shakespeare's 
Plays (1817). (Reprinted in Everyman's Library.) 

S. T. Coleridge in Lectures on Shakespeare, etc., 
2 vols. (1849). (Reprinted in Everyman's Library.) 

Helena Faucit in Shakespeare's Female Characters, 
Ophelia, pp. 1-21 (1885. Tth ed. 1914.). 

Mrs. Jameson in Characteristics of Women, Ophe- 
lia, pp. 187-207. (New ed. Riverside Press, n. d.) 

John Corbin, The Elizabethan Hamlet (1895). 

A. C. Bradley in Shakespearean Tragedy (1904). 
{Hamlet, Lectures III and IV.) 

Sidney Lee in Shakespeare and the Modern Stage 
(1906). 

Charlton M. Lewis, The Genesis of Hamlet (1907). 

Karl Werder, The Heart of Hamlet's Mystery, 
Eng. transl. (1907). 

Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy, ed. by J. 
Schick (1907). (Temple Dramatists.) 

William Winter in Shakespeare on the Stage 
(1911), chap. V, Hamlet. 

W. F. Trench, Shakespeare's Hamlet (1913). 

Stopford A. Brooke in Ten More Plays of Shake- 
speare, chap, iv, Hamlet (1913). 

H. H. Furness, Variorum Hamlet, 2 vols. (1877). 



INDEX OF WORDS GLOSSED 



(Figures in full-faced type refer to page-numbers) 



a': 37 (II. i. 58) 
abatements: 123 (IV. vii. 

130) 
about, my brain: 62 (II. ii. 

625) 
abridgments: 56 (II. ii. 448) 
absolute: 131 (V. i. 149); 

142 (V. ii. 112) 
abstracts: 60 (II. ii. 555) 
abus'd: 28 (I. v. 38) 
abuse: 121 (IV. vii. 50) 
act: 15 (I. ii. 205) 
action of battery: 130 (V. i. 

Ill) 
admiration: 15 (I. ii. 192) 
adulterate: 28 (I. v. 42) 
Eneas' tale to Dido: 57 

(II. ii. 477) 
aery: 53 (II. ii. 362) 
affront: 64 (III. i. 31) 
afraid of goose-quiUs : 53 

(II. ii. 367) 
against: 58 (II. ii. 513). See 

also ' 'gainst' 
aim: 109 (IV. v. 9) 
allowance: 72 (III. ii. 32) 
amber . . . gum: 47 (II. ii. 

204) 
ambition: 89 (III. iii. 55) 
an: (on) 28 (I. v. 19) 
an if: 34 (I. v. 177) 
anchor's: 80 (III. ii. 231) 
and . . . again: 116 (IV. v. 

189) 
angle: 140 (V. ii. 66) 
annexment: 87 (III. iii. 21) 
anoint: 124 (IV. vii. 140) 
anon: 58 (II. ii. 516) 



another tongue: 143 (V. ii. 

132) 
answer: 98 (III. iv. 176) 
antic: 34 (I. v. 172) 
apoplex'd: 94 (III. iv. 73) 
appliance: 103 (IV. iii. 10) 
appointment: 118 (IV. vi. 

17) 
apprehension: 52 (II. ii. 

326) 
approve: 2 (I. i. 29) 
approve me: 143 (V. ii. 142) 
appurtenance: 54 (II. ii. 

397) 
apt: 28 (I. v. 31) 
are . . . that: 21 (I. iii. 74) 
argal: 127 (V. i. 13) 
argument: 53 (II. ii. 380); 

108 (IV. iv. 54) 
arm: 88 (III. iii. 24) 
arrant: 32 (I. v. 124) 
arras: 46 (II. ii. 163) 
art and exercise: 122 (IV. 

vii. 97) 
artless: 109 (IV. v. 19) 
as . . . blood: 6 (I. i. 117) 
'as'es: 139 (V. ii. 43) 
'as most like it was': 56 

(II. ii. 446) 
assay (noun) : 42 (II. ii. 71) 
assay (vb.): 64 (III. i. 14) 
assays of bias: 37 (II. i. 65) 
assigns: 144 (V. ii. 157) 
assurance: 131 (V. i. 127) 
at . . . fee: 26 (I. iv. 65) 
at foot: 105 (IV. iii. 57) 
attends: 87 (III. iii. 22) 
attent: 15 (I. ii. 193) 



188 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 



attribute: 24 (I. iv. 33) 
audit: 90 (III. iii. 83) 
auspicious: 8 (I. ii. 11) 
authorities: 102 (IV. ii. 17) 
avouch: 3 (I. i. 57) 

bak'd meats: 14 (I. ii. 180) 
bands: 9 (I. ii. 34) 
bare: 66 (III. i. 76) 
barren: 72 (III. ii. 47) 
bated: 139 (V. ii. 33) 
batten: 94 (III. iv. 67) 
bawdry: 59 (II. ii. 531) 
be bless'd: 98 (III. iv. 171) 
be idle: 74 (III. ii. 95) 
bear: 103 (IV. iii. 7) 
beaten way: 50 (II. ii. 383) 
beating: 70 (III. i. 183) 
beautified: 44 (II. ii. 109) 
beaver: 16 (I. ii. 339) 
beck: 68 (III. i. 139) 
bedded: 96 (III. iv. 130) 
beetles: 26 (I. iv. 71) 
beget: 71 (III. ii. 8) 
beggars bodies: 50 (II. ii. 

374) 
behove: 129 (V. i. 71) 
bend: 12 (I. ii. 115) 
be-netted: 139 (V. ii. 39) 
bent: 86 (III. ii. 409); 105 

(IV. iii. 48) 
berattle: 53 (II. ii. 365) 
beshrew: 39 (II. i. 113) 
bespeak: 45 (II. ii. 140) 
bestial oblivion: 107 (IV. 

iv. 40) 
bestowed: 60 (II. ii. 554) 
beteem: 13 (I. ii. 141) 
better proposer: 51 (II. ii. 

303) 
between who?: 47 (II. ii. 

198) 
bilboes: 138 (V. ii. 6) 
bisson rheum: 59 (II. ii. 

537) 
blank: 101 (IV. i. 43) 
blanks: 80 (III. ii. 333) 



blast in proof: 125 (IV. vlL 

154) 
blasted: 70 (III. i. 169) 
blastments: 19 (I. iii. 43) 
blench: 63 (II. ii. 634) 
bloat: 98 (III. iv. 183) 
blood: 73 (III. ii. 74) 
blown: 69 (III. i. 168) 
board: 46 (II. ii. 170) 
bodkin: 66 (III. i. 76) 
bore: 118 (IV. vi. 38) 
bore arms: 127 (V. i. 37) 
borne in hand: 42 (II. ii. 67) 
borrow'd sheen: 77 (III. ii. 

169) 
bourn: 66 (III. i. 79) 
brainish apprehension: 100 

(IV. i. 11) 
branches: 127 (V. i. 13) 
brass'd: 92 (III. iv. 37) 
brave: 51 (II. ii. 319) 
bravery: 141 (V. ii. 79) 
breathing time: 144 (V. ii. 

181) 
broad: 91 (III. iv. 3) 
broad blown: 90 (III. iii. 

81) 
brokers: 22 (I. iii. 137) 
brow of woe: 8 (I. ii. 4) 
bruit: 12 (I. ii. 137) 
bugs . . . life: 139 (V. ii. 

33) 
bulk: 39 (II. i. 95) 
burning zone: 137 (V. i. 

306) 
but:' 62 (II. ii. 613) 
buttons: 19 (I. iii. 40) 
buys out: 89 (III. iii. 60) 
buzz, buzz: 55 (II. ii. 431) 
buzzers: 112 (IV. v. 90) 
by Gis: 111 (IV. v. 59) 
by 'r lady: 56 (II. ii. 454) 
by the card: 131 (V. i. 150). 

See also 'card' 

call 't in question: 117 (IV. 
V. 317) 



Prince of Denmark 



189 



candied: 73 (III. ii. 65) 
canker: 19 (I. iii. 39) 
canon: 13 (I. ii. 132) 
canoniz'd: 25 (I. iv. 47) 
can well: 122 (IV. vii. 84) 
capable: 96 (III. iv. 126) 
capable of: 71 (III. ii. 13) 
cap-a-pe: 15 (I. ii. 300) 
capital: 119 (IV. vii. 7) 
Capitol: 75 (III. ii. 110) 
card: 142 (V. ii. 115) 
carriage: 5 (I. i. 94) 
carriages: 144 (V. ii. 158) 
carry it away: 54 (II. ii. 

385) 
cart: 77 (III. ii. 167) 
cast: (founding) 4 (I. i. 

73); (tinge) 67 (III. 1. 

85) 
cast away: 116 (IV. v. 197) 
cast beyond: 39 (II. i. 115) 
casual: 153 (V. ii. 396) 
cataplasm: 124 (IV. vii. 

143) 
cautel: 18 (I. iii. 15) 
caviare . . . general: 57 (II. 

ii. 466) 
cease: 87 (III. iii. 15) 
censure: 20 (I. iii. 69); 74 

(III. ii. 92) 
centre: 46 (II. ii. 159) 
cerements: 25 (I. iv. 48) 
challenger on mount: 120 

(IV. vii. 28) 
chameleon's dish: 74 (III. 

ii. 98) 
changeling: 140 (V. ii. 53) 
chanson: 56 (II. ii, 447) 
chapless: 130 (V. i. 97) 
character (noun) : 121 (IV. 

vii. 51) 
character (vb.) : 20 (I. iii. 

59) 
charge: (command) 94 (III. 

iv. 86); (expense) 108 

(IV. iv. 47) 
chariest: 19 (I. iii. 36) 



checking at: 121 (IV. vii. 

62) 
choler: 83 (III. ii. 320) 
chopine: 56 (II. ii. 455) 
chorus: 81 (III. ii. 259) 
chough: 141 (V. ii. 90) 
cicatrice: 105 (IV. iii. 63) 
circumstance: 22 (I. iii. 102) 
Claudio: 120 (IV. vii. 40) 
clepe: 24 (I. iv. 19) 
climatures: 6 (I. i. 125) 
closely: 64 (III. i. 29) 
closes: 37 (II. i. 45) 
closet: 38 (II. i. 77) 
clout: 59 (II. ii. 537) 
clown: 52 (II. ii. 345) 
clowns: 126 (V. i., S. d.) 
cock: 7 (I. i. 150) 
Cock: 111 (IV. V. 62) 
cockle hat: 110 (IV. v. 25) 
collateral: 117 (IV. v. 206) 
coUeagued: 9 (I. ii. 21) 
collection: 109 (IV. v. 9) 
colour: 51 (II. ii. 296) 
columbines: 116 (IV. v. 179) 
combined: 28 (I. v. 18) 
come, bird, come: 31 (I. v. 

116) 
come tardy off: 72 (III. ii. 

29) 
comma: 139 (V. ii. 42) 
commerce: 68 (III. i. 110) 
common (adj.): 11 (I. ii. 

72) 
common (vb.) : 116 (IV. v. 

202) 
common players: 53 (II. ii. 

373) 
common stages: 53 (II. ii. 

365) 
commutual: 77 (III. ii. 172) 
compare with: 143 (V. ii. 

146) 
compass: 85 (III. ii. 391) 
complexion: 24 (I. iv. 27) 
comply: 54 (II. ii. 399) 
compulsative: 5 (I. i. 103) 



190 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 



conceit: 61 (II. ii. 587) 
conception: 47 (II. ii. 18T) 
concernancy: 143 (V. ii. 

129) 
conclusions: 99 (III. iv. 

195) 
condolement: 11 (I. ii. 93) 
confederate: 81 (III. ii. 

371) 
confess thyself: 128 (V. i. 

44) 
confession: 122 (IV. vii. 95) 
confine: 7 (I. i. 155) 
confront: 88 (III. iii. 47) 
confusion: 63 (III. i. 3) 
conjoin'd: 96 (III. iv. 125) 
coniunctive: 119 (IV. vii. 

14) 
conjure: 51 (II. ii. 300) 
conscience: 66 (III. i. 83) 
consequence: 37 (II. i. 45) 
consider'd: 43 (II. ii. 81) 
consonancy of youth: 51 (II. 

ii. 301) 
continent: 108 (IV. iv. 64) 
contraction: 93 (III. iv. 46) 
convert: 96 (III. iv. 127) 
conveyance: 106 (IV. iv. 3); 

130 (V. i. 120) 
convocation: 104 (IV. iii. 

21) 
convoy: 18 (I. iii. 3) 
cop'd withal: 73 (III. ii. 60) 
coronet: 125 (IV. vii. 173) 
corse: 12 (I. ii. 105) 
coted: 52 (II. ii. 338) 
counsel: 77 (III. ii. 153) 
count (noun): 119 (IV. vii. 

17) 
count (vb.) : 141 (V. ii. 78) 
countenance: 102 (IV. ii. 

17) 
counter: 113 (IV. v. 110) 
counterfeit presentment: 93 

(III. iv. 54) 
cozenage: 140 (V. ii. 67) 
cozen'd: 94 (III. iv. 77) 



cracked . . . ring: 56 (II. 

ii. 457) 
crants: 135 (V. i. 256) 
credent: 19 (I. iii. 30) 
crescent: 18 (I. iii. 11) 
cried in the top of: 57 (II. 

ii. 468) 
cries on havoc: 152 (V. ii. 

378) 
cross: 6 (I. i. 127) 
crow-flowers: 125 (IV. vii. 

170) 
crowner: 126 (V. i. 4) 
cry: 82 (III. ii. 294) 
cry . . . question: 53 (II. ii. 

363) 
cuckold: 113 (IV. v. 118) 
cue: 61 (II. ii. 595) 
cuffs: 53 (II. ii. 381) 
cunning: 57 (II. ii. 470) 
cunnings: 125 (IV. vii. 155) 
curb and woo: 97 (III. iv. 

155) 
curiously: 134 (V. i. 228) 
currents: 67 (III. i. 87) 
cut-purse: 95 (III. iv. 99) 

daisy: 116 (IV. v. 183) 
Damon: 82 (III. ii. 297) 
Dane, the: 9 (I. ii. 44) 
Danskers: 35 (II. i. 7) 
dear concernings: 98 (III. 

iv. 191) 
dear to fancy: 144 (V. ii. 

159) 
dearest: 14 (I. ii. 182) 
debate: 107 (IV. iv. 26) 
declension: 45 (II. ii. 149) 
deed: 19 (I. iii. 27) 
deer go weep: 82 (III. ii. 

287) 
defeat: 62 (II. ii. 606) 
defeated: 8 (I. ii. 10) 
defence: 122 (IV. vii. 97) 
definement: 142 (V. ii. 118) 
delated: 9 (I. ii. 38) 
delicate: 144 (V. ii. 160) 



Prince of Denmark 



191 



delver: 127 (V. i. 15) 
demands: 35 (II. i. 12) 
denote: 11 (I. ii. 83) 
deprive . . . reason: 26 (I. 

iv. 73) 
design'd: 5 (I. i. 94) 
dexterity: 13 (I. ii. 157) 
diameter: 101 (IV. i. 41) 
difference: 94 (III. iv. 76); 

116 (IV. V. 183) 
differences: 142 (V. ii. 113) 
digested: 57 (II. ii. 469) 
directions: 37 (II. i. 66) 
disappointed: 30 (I. v. 77) 
disasters: 6 (I. i. 118) 
disclos'd: 19 (I. iii. 40) 
disclose: 70 (III. i. 175) 
discourse of reason: 13 (I. 

ii. 150) 
discovery: 51 (II. ii. 313) 
disjoint: 9 (I. ii. 30) 
dismantled: 82 (III. ii. 398) 
dispatch'd: 30 (I. v. 75) 
disposition: 14 (I. ii. 169) 
dispriz'd: 66 (III. i. 73) 
distempered: 83 (III. ii. 

317) 
distill'd: 15 (I. ii. 304) 
distracted: 103 (IV. iii. 4) 
distracted globe: 30 (I. v. 

97) 
divide inventorially : 142 (V. 

ii. 119) 
divulging: 101 (IV. i. 33) 
do . . . grace: 6 (I. 1. 131) 
document: 116 (IV. v. 177) 
dole: 8 (I. ii. 13) 
doom: 93 (III. iv. 50) 
double: 20 (I. iii. 53) 
doublet: 38 (II. i. 78) 
doubtful: 34 (I. V. 175); 

135 (V. i. 351) 
douts: 126 (IV. vii. 193) 
down-gyved: 38 (II. i. 80) 
dozen or sixteen lines: 60 

(II. ii. 573) 
drab: 62 (II. ii. 633) 



drabbing: 36 (II. i. 36) 
dram of eale: 24 (I. iv. 36)^ 
draw on more: 153 (V. ii. 

406) 
dread my lord: 10 (I. ii. 50) 
dream of his advantage: 9 

(I. ii. 31) 
drift of circumstance: 63 

(III. i. 1) 
dropping: 8 (I. ii. 11) 
drossy: 145 (V. ii. 197) 
ducats: 54 (II. ii. 391) 
duke's name: 80 (III. ii. 

353) 
dull thy palm: 20 (I. iii. 64) 
dumb-show enters, the: 76 

(III. ii., S. d.) 
dupp'd: 111 (IV. V. 54) 

eager: 23 (I. iv. 3); 29 (I. 

V. 69) 
ear: 93 (III. iv. 64) 
ecstasy: 39 (II. i. 103) 
edge: 64 (III. i. 36) 
effects: 89 (III. iii. 54); 96 

(III. iv. 138) 
eisel: 137 (V. i. 300) 
election: 73 (III. ii. 69); 

140 (V. ii. 65) 
emulate: 4 (I. i. 83) 
enactures: 79 (III. ii. 309) 
encompassment : 35 (II. i. 

10) 
encounter: 46 (II. ii. 164) 
encumber'd: 34 (I. v. 174) 
ends: 79 (III. ii. 335) 
engaged: 89 (III. iii. 69) 
enginer: 99 (III. iv. 306) 
enlarg'd: 135 (V. i. 350) 
enseamed: 95 (III. iv. 93) 
entreatments : 22 (I. iii. 133) 
enviously: 109 (IV. v. 6) 
erring: 7 (I. i. 154) 
escoted: 53 (II. ii. 370) 
espials: 64 (III. i. 33) 
essentially: 98 (III. iv. 187) 
estate: 134 (V. i. 345) 



192 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 



estimation: 53 (II. ii. 357) 
eternal blazon: 28 (I. v. 21) 
even: 51 (II. ii. 304); 127 

(V. i. 32) 
event: 107 (IV. iv. 41) 
exception: 147 (V. ii. 245) 
excitements: 108 (IV. iv. 

58) 
exercise: 65 (III. i. 45) 
expectancy: 69 (III. i. 161) 
expostulate: 43 (II. ii. 86) 
express: 52 (II. ii. 325) 
express'd in fancy: 20 (I. 

iii. 71) 
extent: 54 (II. ii. 399) 
extravagant: 7 (I. i. 154) 
eyases: 53 (II. ii. 363) 

faculty: 51 (II. ii. 324) 
fair: 101 (IV. i. 36) 
falls: 121 (IV. vii. 70) 
false fire: 82 (III. ii. 282) 
false steward: 115 (IV. v. 

171) 
familiar: 20 (I. iii. 61) 
famous ape: 99 (III. iv. 

194) 
fantasy: 2 (I. i. 23) 
fardels: 66 (III. i. 76) 
fashion: 18 (I. iii. 6) 
fashion of himself: 70 (III. 

i. 184) 
fat: 149 (V. ii. 301) 
fat weed: 28 (I. v. 32) 
fatness: 97 (III. iv. 153) 
favour: 116 (IV. v. 188); 

133 (V. i. 215) 
fay: 50 (II. ii. 276) 
fear: 87 (III. iii. 8) 
feature: 69 (III. i. 168) 
fee: 42 (II. ii. 73) 
feU: 58 (II. ii. 503) 
fell-incensed: 140 (V. ii. 61) 
fell out: 44 (II. ii. 127) 
feUies: 59 (II. ii. 525) 
fellowship: 82 (III. ii. 294) 



fennel: 116 (IV. v. 179) 
fetch of warrant: 36 (II. i. 

38) 
figure: 43 (II. ii. 98) 
find: 70 (III. i. 194) 
fine: 57 (II. ii. 476); 115 

(IV. V. 160); 130 (V. i. 

116) 
fines: 130 (V. i. 115) 
finger'd: 138 (V. ii. 15) 
fishmonger: 46 (II. ii. 174) 
flaw: 134 (V. i. 240) 
flights: 152 (V. ii. 374) 
flood: 26 (I. iv. 69) 
flourish: 54 (II. ii. 394) 
flourishes: 43 (II. ii. 91) 
flush: 90 (III. iii. 81) 
flushing: 13 (I. ii. 155) 
foil: 147 (V. ii. 269) 
foil and target: 52 (II. ii. 

343) 
fond: 30 (I. v. 99) 
fond and winnowed: 145 (V, 

ii. 201) 
for a need: 60 (II. ii. 573) 
for . . . diet: 5 (I. i. 99) 
for . . . joy: 116 (IV. v. 

186) 
for the nonce: 125 (IV. vii. 

160) 
for this many a day: 67 

(III. i. 91) 
forbear: 137 (V. i. 297) 
forc'd: 11 (I. ii. 79); 153 

(V. ii. 397) 
forcing of his disposition: 

64 (III. i. 12) 
fordoes: 39 (II. i. 103) 
forest of feathers: 82 (III. 

ii. 291) 
forestaUed: 89 (III. iii. 49) 
forgeries: 36 (II. i. 20) 
forget myself: 14 (I. ii. 

161) 
forms: 61 (II. ii. 591) 
forthwith dispatch: 87 (III. 

iii. 3) 



Prince of Denmark 



193 



fortune's star: 24 (I. iv. 32) 
forward: 18 (I. iii. 8); 63 

(III. i. 7) 
frame: 9 (I. ii. 20) ; 83 (III. 

ii. 326) 
frankly: 64 (III. i. 34) 
free: 50 (II. ii. 290); 61 

(II. ii. 598) 
free awe: 105 (IV. iii. 64) 
fret: 85 (III. ii. 395) 
fretted: 51 (II. ii. 320) 
friends . . . Dane: 1 (I. i. 

15) 
from: 71 (III. ii. 24) 
front: 93 (III. iv. 56) 
fruit: 42 (II. ii. 52) 
fruitful: 11 (I. ii. 80) 
full of bread: 90 (III. iii. 

80) 
function: 61 (II. ii. 590) 
fust: 107 (IV. iv. 39) 

gaged: 5 (I. i. 91) 
gain-giving: 146 (V. ii. 227) 
'gainst that: 7 (I. i. 158) 
gait: 9 (I. ii. 31) 
galled: 13 (I. ii. 155) 
galled jade: 81 (III. ii. 256) 
galls: 19 (I. iii. 39) 
gambol: 97 (III. iv. 144) 
garb: 54 (II. ii. 399) 
gates and alleys: 29 (I. v. 

67) 
general gender: 119 (IV. 

vii. 18) 
gentry: 40 (II. ii. 22) 
german: 144 (V. ii. 165) 
gib: 98 (III. iv. 190) 
gilded hand: 89 (III. iii. 58) 
give benefit: 18 (I. iii. 2) 
give o'er: 82 (III. ii. 284) 
give them seals: 86 (III. ii. 

424) 
give to negligence: 114 (IV. 

V. 133) 
give us pause: 66 (III. i. 

68) 



give you: 1 (I. i. 16) 
glass': 69 (III. i. 162) 
glimpses of the moon: 25 

(I. iv. 53) 
glow: 93 (III. iv. 48) 
go hard but: 99 (III. iv. 

207) 
goblin: 25 (I. iv. 40) 
God 'ild: 110 (IV. v. 42) 
God's bodikins: 60 (II. ii. 

561) 
golden couplets: 137 (V. i. 

311) 
good kissing: 47 (II. ii. 184) 
good now: 4 (I. i. 70) 
grace: 97 (III. iv. 144); 

114 (IV. V. 131) 
graces: 10 (I. ii. 63) 
gracious: 7 (I. i. 164); 65 

(III. i. 43) 
grained: 94 (III. iv. 90) 
grating: 63 (III. i. 3) 
great amiss: 109 (IV. v. 18) 
great article: 142 (V. ii. 

123) 
green: 22 (I. iii. 101) 
greenly: 112 (IV. v. 83) 
grizzled: 17 (I. ii. 239) 
gross and scope: 4 (I. i. 68) 
groundlings: 71 (III. ii. 12) 
gules: 57 (II. ii. 488) 
gulf: 87 (III. iii. 16) 
gyves: 119 (IV. vii. 21) 

habit: 96 (III. iv. 134) 
halt: 52 (II. ii. 348) 
handsaw: 54 (II. ii. 407) 
handsome: 57 (II. ii. 475) 
hangers: 144 (V. ii. 157) 
happily: 6 (I. i. 134) 
happiness: 48 (II. ii. 217) 
haps: 106 (IV. iii. 71) 
hard: 10 (I. ii. 60) 
hatchment: 117 (IV. v. 214) 
hautboys: 76 (III. ii., S. d.) 
have an eye of you: 51 (II. 
ii. 308) 



194 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 



have nothing with: 74 (III. 

ii. 101) 
haviour: 11 (I. ii. 81) 
head: 5 (I. i. 106); 112 (IV. 

V. 101) 
health: 122 (IV. vii. 81) 
hearsed: 25 (I. iv. 47) 
heat: 91 (III. iv. 4) 
heaves: 100 (IV. i. 1) 
heavy: 100 (IV. i. 13) 
hebona: 29 (I. v. 63) 
Hecate: 81 (III. ii. 373) 
hectic: 106 (IV. iii. 69) 
Hecuba: 59 (II. ii. 533) 
hent: 90 (III. iii. 88) 
Hercules and his load: 54 

(II. ii. 386) 
hey-day: 94 (III. iv. 69) 
hey non nonny: 115 (IV. v. 

164) 
hie et ubique: S3 (I. v. 156) 
hide fox, and all after: 103 

(IV. ii. 33) 
hies: 7 (I. i. 154) 
hiUo, ho, ho: 31 (I. v. 115) 
hire and salary: 90 (III. iii. 

79) 
his: 2 (I. i. 37) 
hoar: 125 (IV. vii. 168) 
hobby-horse: 76 (III. ii. 

144) 
hoist: 99 (III. iv. 307) 
hollow: 79 (III. ii. 330) 
honest: 67 (III. i. 103) 
honest ghost: 32 (I. v. 138) 
honesty: 47 (II. ii. 307) 
hoodman-blind: 94 (III. iv. 

77) 
horrible: 30 (I. v. 80) 
horrid: 61 (II. ii. 597) 
hot and full: 5 (I. i. 96) 
house of sale: 37 (II. i. 60) 
humorous man: 52 (II. ii. 

344) 
hurling: 32 (I. v. 133) 
husbandry: 21 (I. iii. 77) 



Hyperion: 13 (I. ii. 140) 
Hyrcanian: 57 (II. ii. 481) 

I distrust you: 78 (III. ii. 

177) 
iU at: 44 (II. ii. 119) 
iU-breeding: 109 (IV. v. 15) 
image: 80 (III. ii. 351) 
immediate: 12 (I. ii. 109) 
impart: 12 (I. ii. 113) 
impartment: 25 (I. iv. 59) 
impasted: 57 (II. ii. 490) 
implorators: 23 (I. iii. 139) 
imponed: 143 (V. ii. 155) 
important: 95 (III. iv. 108) 
importing: 9 (I. ii. 33) 
imports: 77 (III. ii. 150) 
importunate: 108 (IV. v. 3) 
imposthume: 107 (IV. iv. 

37) 
impress: 4 (I. i. 75) 
impression: 140 (V. ii. 53) 
imputation: 143 (V. ii. 149) 
in: 137 (V. i. 318) 
in clouds: 112 (IV. v. 89) 
in doubt: 109 (IV. v. 6) 
in ear and ear: 112 (IV. v. 

94) 
in . . . extremity: 78 (III. 

ii. 180) 
in few: 22 (I. iii. 136) 
in fine: 42 (II. ii. 69) 
in happy time: 145 (V. ii. 

314) 
in his eye: 106 (IV. iv. 6) 
in hugger-mugger: 112 (IV. 

V. 84) 
in little: 54 (II. ii. 393) 
in . . . love: 129 (V. i. 69) 
in our circumstance and 

course: 90 (III. iii. 83) 
in the fuU bent: 41 (II. ii. 

30) 
in . . . tricks: 122 (IV. vii. 

89) 
i' the sun: 10 (I. ii. 67) 



Prince of Denmark 



195 



incapable: 125 (IV. vii. 179) 
inclination in yourself: 38 

(II. i. 71) 
incontinency : 36 (II. i. 30) 
incorporal: 96 (III. iv. 117) 
incorps'd and demi-natur'd : 

122 (IV. vii. 87) 
indentures: 130 (V. i. 119) 
index: 93 (III. iv. 52) 
indict: 57 (II. ii. 473) 
indifferent: 48 (II. ii. 235); 

68 (III. i. 126) 
indirections: 37 (II. i. QQ) 
indu'd: 126 (IV. vii. 180) 
inexplicable dumb-shows : 

71 (III. ii. 14) 
infants: 19 (I. iii. 39) 
infusion: 142 (V. ii. 123) 
ingenious: 136 (V. i. 272) 
inhibition: 53 (II. ii. 355) 
innovation: 53 (II. ii. 356) 
inoculate: 68 (III. i. 121) 
insinuation: 140 (V. ii. 59) 
instance: 115 (IV. v. 161) 
instances: 78 (III. ii. 194) 
instant: 29 (I. v. 71) 
instrumental: 10 (I. ii. 48) 
interpret: 81 (III. ii. 260) 
intil: 129 (V. i. 81) 
inurn'd: 25 (I. iv. 49) 
investments: 22 (I. iii. 128) 
issue: 27 (I. iv. 89) 
it ... to: 3 (I. i. 45) 
it (its): 16 (I. ii. 216) 

jealousy: 39 (II. i. 113) 
Jephthah: 55 (II. ii. 431) 
jig: 59 (II. ii. 530) 
John-a-dreams: 61 (II. ii. 

603) 
jointress: 8 (I. ii. 9) 
journeymen: 72 (III. ii. 38) 
jowls: 129 (V. i. 84) 
Julius Csesar: 75 (III. ii. 

109) 
jump: 4 (I. i. Q5) 
just: 73 (III. ii. 59) 



keep: 35 (II. i. 8) 
keeps wassail: 23 (I. iv. 9) 
kettle: 148 (V. ii. 289) 
kibe: 132 (V. i. 154) 
kin . . . kind: 10 (I. ii. 65) 
kindless: 62 (II. ii. 617) 
knotted: 28 (I. v. 18) 
know no touch: 85 (III. ii. 

378) 
knowing: 119 (IV. vii. 3) 

laps'd in time and passion: 

95 (III. iv. 107) 
lapwing: 145 (V. ii. 193) 
larded: 110 (IV. v. 38) 
large discourse: 107 (IV. iv. 

36) 
law and heraldry: 4 (I. i. 

87) 
law of writ and the liberty: 

55 (II. ii. 429) 
lay home: 91 (III. iv. 1) 
lazar-like: 29 (I. v. 72) 
leans on: 105 (IV. iii. 60) 
leave: 37 (II. i. 51) 
leave and favour: 10 (I. ii. 

51) 
leave and pardon: 10 (I. ii. 

56) 
lecture: 37 (II. i. 67) 
lenten: 52 (II. ii. 337) 
leper ous: 29 (I. v. 64) 
Lethe: 28 (I. v. 33) 
lets: 26 (I. iv. 85) 
level: 101 (IV. i. 42) 
liberal: 125 (IV. vii. 171) 
liberal conceit: 144 (V. ii. 

160) 
lies: 89 (III. iii. 61) 
life in excrements: 96 (III. 

iv. 120) 
life-rendering pelican: 114 

(IV. V. 145) 
lightness: 45 (II. ii. 149) 
likelihood: 134 (V. i. 231) 
limed: 89 (III. iii. 68) 
liquid dew: 19 (I. iii. 41) 



196 



The Tragedy of Hamlet , 



list (noun) : 5 (I. i. 98) ; 112 

(IV. V. 99) 
list (vb.): 19 (I. iii. 30) 
livery: 122 (IV. vii. 79) 
living: 138 (V. i. 321) 
loggats: 130 (V. i. 101) 
long . . . king: 1 (I. i. 3) 
long purples: 125 (IV. vii. 

ITO) 
lose your voice: 9 (I. ii. 45) 
luxury: 30 (I. v. 83) 

machine: 44 (II. ii. 123) 
made milch: 60 (II. ii. 548) 
main: 42 (II. ii. 5Q) ; 106 

(IV. iv. 15) 
make oppression bitter: 62 

(II. ii. 614) 
make your wantonness your 

ignorance: 69 (III. i. 154) 
mandate: 99 (III. iv. 204) 
mar gent: 144 (V. ii. 162) 
mark: 3 (I. i. 43) 
market: 107 (IV. iv. 34) 
marry: 21 (I. iii. 90) 
marshal: 99 (III. iv. 205) 
mart: 4 (I. i. 74) 
master: 98 (III. iv. 169) 
masterly report: 122 (IV. 

vii. 96) 
matin: 30 (I. v. 89) 
matter: 47 (II. ii. 197); 58 

(II. ii. 511) 
mazzard: 130 (V. i. 97) 
means: 44 (II. ii. 127); 117 

(IV. V. 213) 
meed: 143 (V. ii. 149) 
meet: 34 (I. v. 171) 
merely: 13 (I. ii. 137) 
mess: 141 (V. ii. 90) 
metal: 75 (III. ii. 117) 
miching mallecho: 77 (III. 

ii. 148) 
mine ease: 142 (V. ii. 110) 
mineral: 101 (IV. i. 26) 
mining: 97 (III. iv. 148) 



ministers of grace: 25 (I. 

iv. 39) 
mobled: 59 (II. ii. 533) 
model: 140 (V. ii. 50) 
modesty: 57 (II. ii. 470) 
moiety competent: 5 (I. i. 

90) 
moist star: 6 (I. i. 118) 
mole: 24 (I. iv. 24) 
moon: 124 (IV. vii. 145) 
mope: 94 (III. iv. 81) 
moor: 94 (III. iv. 67) 
more above: 44 (II. ii. 126) 
more . . . love: 39 (II. i. 

119) 
more rawer: 143 (V. ii. 130) 
mortal coil: 66 (III. i. 67) 
mote: 5 (I. i. 112) 
motion: 94 (III. iv. 72); 

125 (IV. vii. 157) 
mould: 69 (III. i. 162) 
mountebank: 124 (IV. vii. 

141) 
mouth: 71 (III. ii. 3) 
mouths: 108 (IV. iv. 50) 
move: 78 (III. ii. 194) 
mows: 54 (II. ii. 390) 
much: 109 (IV. v. 13) 
muddied: 111 (IV. v. 81) 
muddy-mettled: 61 (II. ii. 

602) 
murdering-piece : 112 (IV. 

mutes: 76 (III. ii., S. d.) 
mutine: 94 (III. iv. 83) 
mutines: 138 (V. ii. 6) 
my will: 114 (IV. v. 136) 

naked: 120 (IV. vii. 44) 
napkin: 149 (V. ii. 302) 
native: 10 (I. ii. 47) 
native hue: 67 (III. i. 84) 
nature's livery: 24 (I. iv. 32) 
naught: 77 (III. ii. 158) 
nave: 59 (II. ii. 526) 
neighbour'd . . . humour: 
40 (II. ii. 12) 



Prince of Denmark 



197 



neither: 142 (V. ii. 121) 
Nemean lion's: 26 (I. iv. 83) 
Nero: 86 (III. ii. 419) 
nerve: 26 (I. iv. 83) 
neutral, a: 58 (II. ii. 511) 
nickname: 69 (III. i. 153) 
niggard of question: 64 (III. 

i. 13) 
Niobe: 13 (I. ii. 149) 
no addition: 106 (IV. iv. 17) 
nomination: 143 (V. ii. 134) 
note: 34 (I. v. 178) 
nothing: 109 (IV. v. 13); 

112 (IV. V. 93) 
noyance: 87 (III. iii. 13) 
numbers: 44 (II. ii. 119) 

obscure: 117 (IV. v. 213) 
obsequious: 11 (I. ii. 93) 
occasion: 20 (I. iii. 54) 
occulted: 74 (III. ii. 85) 
occurrents: 152 (V. ii. 371) 
o'er-crows: 152 (V. ii. 367) 
o'er-leavens : 24 (I. iv. 39) 
o'ermaster 't: 32 (I. v. 140) 
o'er-offices: 129 (V. i. 87) 
o'er-raught: 64 (III. i. 17) 
o'er-sized: 58 (II. ii. 493) 
o'er-teemed: 59 (II. ii. 539) 
o'ertook in 's rouse: 37 (II. 

i. 58) 
of general assault: 36 (II. 1. 

35) 
of so young days: 40 (II. ii. 

11) 
of vantage: 88 (III. iii. 33) 

office: 66 (III. i. 73) 

ominous horse: 57 (II. ii. 

485) 
on . . . button: 49 (II. ii. 

237) 
on 't: 69 (III. i. 155) 
open'd: 40 (II. ii. 18) 
operant: 78 (III. ii. 186) 
opposite: 80 (III. ii. 232) 
opposites: 140 (V. ii. 62) 
orchard: 28 (I. v. 35) 



ordinant: 140 (V. ii. 48) 
organ: 85 (III. ii. 392); 121 

(IV. vii. 70) 
orisons: 67 (III. i. 89) 
ostentation: 117 (IV. v. 215) 
our shape: 124 (IV. vii. 150) 
out of haunt: 100 (IV. i. 18) 
out of thy star: 45 (II. ii. 

141) 
out-herods Herod: 71 (III. 

ii. 16) 
outstretched: 50 (II. ii. 275) 
overlooked: 118 (IV. vi. 13) 
overpeering: 112 (IV. v. 99) 
owl was a baker's daughter: 

110 (IV. V. 42) 

paddling: 98 (III. iv. 185) 
paddock: 98 (III. iv. 190) 
painted tyrant: 58 (II. ii. 

510) 
pajock: 82 (III. ii. 300) 
pales: 24 (I. iv. 28) 
paU: 138 (V. ii. 9) 
palmy state: 5 (I. i. 113) 
panders: 94 (III. iv. 88) 
pansies: 115 (IV. v. 176) 
parle: 3 (I. i. 62) 
part: 75 (III. ii. Ill); 122 

(IV. vii. 76) 
particular: 11 (I. ii. 75) 
partisan: 6 (I. i. 140) 
pass of practice: 124 (IV. 

vii. 138) 
passage: 90 (III. iii. 86) 
passages of proof: 123 (IV. 

vii. 112) 
passing: 55 (II. ii. 436) 
passion: 116 (IV. v. 187) 
patience: 75 (III. ii. 114) 
peace-parted: 135 (V. i. 

262) 
peak: 61 (II. ii. 602) 
peasant: 61 (II. ii. 584) 
Pelion: 136 (V. i. 277) 
perdition: 142 (V. ii. 118) 
perdy: 83 (III. ii. 310) 



198 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 



periwig-pated: 71 (III. ii. 

10) 
perpend: 44 (II. ii. 105) 
perusal: 38 (II. i. 90) 
peruse: 124 (IV. vii. 136) 
petar: 99 (III. iv. 307) 
physic: 90 (III. iii. 96) 
picked: 131 (V. i. 152) 
pickers and stealers: 84 

(III. ii. 355) 
piece: 2 (I. i. 19) 
pigeon-liver'd: 62 (II. ii. 

613) 
pioner: 33 (I. v. 163) 
pious action: 65 (III. i. 48) 
pith and moment: 67 (III. 

i. 86) 
place: 19 (I. iii. 26) 
planets strike: 7 (I. i. 162) 
platform: 1 (I. i., S. d.) 
plausive: 24 (I. iv. 30) 
Plautus: 55 (II. ii. 429) 
play: 123 (IV. vii. 105) 
pledge: 23 (I. iv. 12) 
plurisy: 123 (IV. vii. 117) 
ply his music: 38 (II. i. 73) 
pocky: 132 (V. i. 182) 
poem unlimited: 55 (II. ii. 

428) 
policy: 41 (II. ii. 47) 
politic: 104 (IV. iii. 21) 
poU: 116 (IV. V. 195) 
porpentine: 28 (I. v. 20) 
posset: 29 (I. v. 68) 
post: 13 (I. ii. 156) 
posy: 77 (III. ii. 163) 
powers: 106 (IV. iv. 9) 
pox: 81 (III. ii. 267) 
practice: 121 (IV. vii. 67) 
praises . . . again: 120 (IV. 

vii. 27) 
precedent: 95 (III. iv. 98) 
precepts: 20 (I. iii. 58) 
precurse: 6 (I. i. 121) 
pregnant: 48 (II. ii. 216) 
pregnant hinges: 73 (III. ii. 



prenominate: 37 (II. i. 43) 
presence: 147 (V. ii. 242) 
present push: 138 (V. i. 

319) 
presently: 46 (II. ii. 170) 
pressure: 72 (III. ii. 28) 
pressures: 31 (I. v. 100) 
prevent: 51 (II. ii. 312) 
prick'd on: 4 (I. i. 83) 
primal: 88 (III. iii. 37) 
primrose path: 20 (I. iii. 50) 
primy: 18 (I. iii. 7) 
private time: 21 (I. iii. 92) 
probation: 7 (I. i. 156) 
process: 28 (I. v. 37); 88 

(III. iii. 29) ; 105 (IV. iii. 

progress: 104 (IV. iii. 34) 
prologue: 6 (I. i. 123) 
prologue . . . play: 139 (V. 

ii. 30) 
pronounce: 83 (III. ii. 328) 
pronounc'd: 69 (II. ii. 542) 
proof and bulwark: 92 (III. 

iv. 38) 
proof eterne: 58 (II. ii. 520) 
property: 39 (II. i. 103); 

62 (II. ii. 605) 
property of easiness: 129 

(V. i. 75) 
proportions: 9 (I. ii. 32) 
prosperously: 48 (II. ii. 218) 
protest: 80 (III. ii. 242) 
providence: 100 (IV. i. 17) 
Provincial roses: 82 (III. ii. 

293) 
puff'd: 20 (I. iii. 49) 
purgation: 83 (III. ii. 323) 
purging: 47 (II. ii. 203) 
pursu'd: 119 (IV. vii. 5) 
pursy: 97 (III. iv. 153) 
put on: 21 (I. iii. 94); 35 

(II. i. 19); 124 (IV. vii. 

131) 

quaintly: 36 (II. i. 31) 



Prince of Denmark 



199 



quality: 50 (II. ii. 273) ; 53 

(II. ii. 371) 
quantity: 78 (III. ii. 179) 
quantity of choice: 94 (III. 

iv. 75) 
quarry: 152 (V. ii. 378) 
quest: 127 (V. i. 34) 
questionable: 25 (I. iv. 43) 
quiddities: 130 (V. i. 107) 
quietus: 66 (III. i. 75) 
quillets: 130 (V. i. 108) 
quintessence: 52 (II. ii. 338) 
quit: 148 (V. ii. 383) 
quoted: 39 (II. i. 113) 

rack: 58 (II. ii. 514) 
range: 87 (III. iii. 3) 
rank: 36 (II. i. 20) 
ranker: 107 (IV. iv. 22) 
razed: 82 (III. ii. 293) 
reach: 37 (II. i. 64) 
reaches: 25 (I. iv. BQ) 
reason: 50 (II. ii. 277) 
reckon: 44 (II. ii. 120) 
reckoning: 30 (I. v. 78) 
recks: 20 (I. iii, 51) 
recognizances: 130 (V. i. 

113) 
recorders: 83 (III. ii. 308) 
recover the wind of: 85 

(III. ii. 368) 
recoveries: 130 (V. i. 116) 
rede: 20 (I. iii. 51) 
reechy: 98 (III. iv. 184) 
regard: 67 (III. i. 87) 
regards . . . allowance: 43 

(II. ii. 79) 
region: 58 (II. ii. 517) 
region kites: 62 (II. ii. 615) 
relative: 63 (II. ii. 641) 
relish (noun) : 90 (III. iii. 

92) 
relish (vb.) : 68 (III. i. 122) 
remember: 142 (V. ii. 109) 
remove: 111 (IV. v. 81) 
repair: 118 (IV. vi. 24) 
repast: 114 (IV. v. 146) 



replication: 102 (IV. ii. 13) 
repugnant to: 58 (II. ii. 501) 
residence: 52 (II. ii. 353) 
resolutes: 5 (I. i. 98) 
resolve: 13 (I. ii. 130) 
respect: 66 (III. i. 68) 
responsive: 144 (V. ii. 159) 
rests: 89 (III. iii. 64) 
retrograde: 12 (I. ii. 114) 
reverted: 120 (IV. vii. 23) 
re-word: 97 (III. iv. 143) 
rhapsody of words: 93 (III. 

iv. 48) 
Rhenish: 23 (I. iv. 10) 
riband: 122 (IV. vii. 77) 
right: 116 (IV. v. 303) 
rights of memory: 153 (V. 

ii. 403) 
rivals: 1 (I. i. 13) 
robustious: 71 (III. ii. 10) 
romage: 5 (I. i. 107) 
Roman: 151 (V. ii. 355) 
rood: 91 (III. iv. 14) 
Roscius: 55 (II. ii. 419) 
rosemary: 115 (IV. v. 174) 
round: 45 (II. ii. 139) 
rouse: 12 (I. ii. 127) 
row: 56 (II. ii. 447) 
rub: 66 (III. i. 65) 
rue: 116 (IV. v. 180) 

sable: 17 (I. ii. 241) 

Saint Patrick: 32 (I. v. 136) 

sallets . . . savoury: 57 (II. t 

ii. 471) 
sans: 94 (III. iv. 79) 
satisfied in nature: 147 (V. 

ii. 258) 
sat on: 126 (V. i. 4) 
saws: 31 (I. v. 100) 
'Sblood: 54 (II. ii. 392) 
scann'd: 90 (III. iii. 75) 
scene individable: 55 (II. ii. 

427) 
scholar: 3 (I. i. 43) 
sconce: 130 (V. 1. 110) 



200 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 



scourge: 103 (IV. iii. 6) 
scrimers: 123 (IV. vii. 100) 
scullion: 62 (II. ii. 634) 
sea-gown: 138 (V. ii. 13) 
season: 15 (I. ii. 192) 
seeming: 74 (III. ii. 92) 
seiz'd of : 4 (I. i. 89) 
semblable: 142 (V. ii. 125) 
Seneca: 55 (II. ii. 428) 
sense: 92 (III. iv. 38); 94 

(III. iv. 71) 
senseless: 58 (II. ii. 504) 
sensible: 3 (I. i. 57) 
sensibly: 115 (IV. v. 149) 
se offendendo: 127 (V. i. 9) 
sergeant: 151 (V. ii. 350) 
set: 105 (IV. iii. Q5) 
set me packing: 99 (III. iv. 

211) 
shards: 135 (V. i. 255) 
share: 82 (III. ii. 295) 
shark'd up: 5 (I. i. 98) 
shent: 86 (III. ii. 423) 
shoon: 110 (IV. v. 26) 
short: 100 (IV. i. 18) 
shreds and patches: 95 (III. 

iv. 102) 
shriving-time : 139 (V. ii. 

47) 
shuffled off: 66 (III. i. 67) 
shuffling: 89 (III. iii. 61) 
sick . . . doomsday: 6 (I. i. 

120) 
sicklied o'er: 67 (III. i. 85) 
siege: 122 (IV. vii. 76) 
simples: 124 (IV. vii. 144) 
single and peculiar: 87 (III. 

iii. 11) 
sith: 108 (IV. iv. 45) 
skirts: 5 (I. i. 97) 
slander: 23 (I. iii. 133) 
sledded Polacks: 3 (I. i. 63) 
slightly timber'd: 119 (IV. 

vii. 22) 
smooth and even: 103 (IV. 

iii. 7) 



so, haply, slander: 101 (IV. 

i. 40) 
soft: 142 (V. ii. 113) 
softly: 106 (IV. iv. 8) 
soil: 18 (I. iii. 15) 
soil our addition: 24 (I. iv. 

20) 
sold in fee: 107 (IV. iv. 22) 
solicited: 152 (V. ii. 372) 
solidity and compound mass: 

93 (III. iv. 49) 
something-settled: 70 (III. 

i. 182) 
sometimes: 3 (I. i. 49) 
sore: 133 (V. i. 189) 
sort: 5 (I. i. 109); 50 (II. 

ii. 279) 
sovereign: 69 (III. i. 166) 
spheres: 27 (I. v. 17) 
spendthrift sigh: 123 (IV. 

vii. 122) 
spills: 109 (IV. V. 20) 
spirit of health: 25 (I. iv. 

40) 
spirits: 63 (II. ii. 639) 
spite: 34 (I. v. 188) 
splenetive: 136 (V. i. 285) 
sport: 80 (III. ii. 229) 
spring: 119 (IV. vii. 20) 
springes: 22 (I. iii. 115) 
spurns (noun) : 66 (III. 1. 

73) 
spurns (vb.): 109 (IV. v. 

6) 
stage: 153 (V. ii. 392) 
stand . . . upon: 140 (V. ii. 

63) 
station: 93 (III. iv. 58) 
statists: 139 (V. ii. 33) 
statutes: 130 (V. i. 113) 
stay upon: 75 (III. ii. 113) 
sterling: 22 (I. iii. 107) 
stick ... off: 148 (V. ii. 

271) 
still: 6 (I. i. 122) 
stithy: 74 (III. ii. 89) 
stomach: 5 (I. i. 100) 



Prince of Denmark 



201 



stooping: 77 (III. ii. 161) 
stop: 73 (III. ii. 76) 
stoup: 128 (V. i. 68) 
straight: 56 (II. ii. 460) 
straw: 107 (IV. iv. 36) 
strewments: 135 (V. i. 257) 
strumpet: 49 (II. ii. 344) 
stuck: 125 (IV. vii. 161) 
stuff: 52 (II. ii. 332) 
subject: 4 (I. i. 72) 
subscrib'd: 140 (V. ii. 52) 
succession: 53 (II. ii. 376) 
suit of sables: 76 (III. ii. 

139) 
suiting: 61 (II. ii. 590) 
suffer not thinking on: 76 

(III. ii. 143) 
suUies: 36 (II. i. 39) 
supervise: 139 (V. ii. 23) 
suppliance: 18 (I. iii. 9) 
supply and profit: 40 (II. ii. 

24) 
swaddling-clouts : 55 (II. ii. 

411) 
sweep my way: 99 (III. iv. 

204) 
swinish: 24 (I. iv. 19) 
Switzers: 112 (IV. v. 97) 
swoopstake: 114 (IV. v. 

141) 
sword: 33 (I. v. 154) 
'Swounds: 62 (II. ii. 612) 
swounds: 150 (V. ii. 322) 
synod: 59 (II. ii. 524) 

table: 30 (I. v. 98) 

taints of liberty: 36 (II. i. 

32) 
take: 35 (II. i. 13) 
take . . . troubles: 66 (III. 

i. 59) 
takes: 7 (I. i. 163) 
tarre: 53 (II. ii. 379) 
tax . . . home: 88 (III. iii. 

29) 
teeth and forehead: 89 (III. 

iii. 63) 



tell: 17 (I. ii. 237) 
Tellus: 77 (III. ii. 168) 
temperance: 71 (III. ii. 8) 
temper'd: 151 (V. ii. 342) 
temple: 18 (I. iii. 12) 
tenable: 17 (I. ii. 247) 
tend: 21 (I. iii. 83) 
tender (vb.): 22 (I. iii. 107) 
tenders (noun) : 21 (I. iii. 

99) 
tent: 63 (II. ii. 634) 
tenures: 130 (V. i. 108) 
Termagant: 71 (III. ii. 16) 
terms: 87 (III. iii. 5) 
tetter: 29 (I. v. 71) 
the . . . body: 103 (IV. ii. 

29) 
the croaking . . . revenge: 

81 (III. ii. 268) 
there be of them: 72 (III. 

ii. 45) 
these: 44 (II. ii. 112) 
thews: 18 (I. iii. 12) 
thicker than itself: 88 (III. 

iii. 44) 
this . . . drooping: 137 (V. 

1. 308) 
thought: 4 (I. i. 67) 
thrall'd: 94 (III. iv. 74) 
thrift: 73 (III. ii. 67) 
tickle o' the sere: 52 (II. ii. 

346) 
time: 68 (III. i. 116) 
tinct: 94 (III. iv. 91) 
tithe: 95 (III. iv. 97) 
to: 65 (III. i. 52) 
toil (noun) : 85 (III. ii. 369) 
toils (vb.): 4 (I. i. 72) 
too dear a halfpenny: 60 

(II. ii. 288) 
too much prov'd: 65 (III. 1. 

47) 
topp'd: 122 (IV. vii. 88) 
touch'd: 117 (IV. v. 207) 
toward: 4 (I. i. 77) 
toy in blood: 18 (I. iii. 6) 



202 



The Tragedy of Hamlet^ 



toys of desperation: 26 (I. 

iv. 75) 
trace: 142 (V. ii. 136) 
traduc'd and tax'd: 24 (I. 

iv. 18) 
trick: 108 (IV. iv. 61); 126 

(IV. vii. 188) 
trick'd: 57 (II. ii. 488) 
tricks: 109 (IV. v. 5) 
trippingly: 71 (III. ii. 2) 
tristful: 93 (III. iv. 50) 
trophy: 117 (IV. v. 214) 
tropically: 80 '(III. ii. 350) 
true-penny: 33 (I. v. 150) 
truncheon: 15 (I. ii. 204) 
tune: 145 (V. ii. 198) 
turn Turk: 82 (III. ii. 292) 
turned . . . colour: 60 (II. 

ii. 5B0) 
twelve for nine: 144 (V. ii. 

174) 
tyrannically: 53 (II. ii. 364) 

umbrage: 142 (V. ii. 126) 
unanel'd: 30 (I. v. 77) 
unbated: 124 (IV. vii. 138) 
unbrac'd: 38 (II. 1. 78) 
uncharge: 121 (IV. vii. 67) 
unction: 97 (III. iv. 145) 
uncurrent: 56 (II. ii. 456) 
undergo: 24 (I. iv. 34) 
uneffectual: 30 (I. v. 90) 
unfellowed: 143 (V. ii. 150) 
unfledg'd: 20 (I. iii. QB) 
ungor'd: 147 (V. ii. 264) 
ungracious: 19 (I. iii. 47) 
unhousel'd: 30 (I. v. 77) 
unimproved: 5 (I. i. 96) 
union: 148 (V. ii. 286) 
unkennel: 74 (III. ii. 86) 
unmaster'd: 19 (I. iii. 32) 
unnatural: 28 (I. v. 25) 
unpregnant of: 61 (II. ii. 

603) 
unprevailing: 12 (I. ii. 107) 
unproportion'd: 20 (I. iii. 

60) 



unreclaimed: 36 (II. i. 34) 
unshaped: 109 (IV. v. 8) 
unsifted: 22 (I. iii. 102) 
unsinew'd: 119 (IV. vii. 10) 
unvalu'd: 18 (I. iii. 19) 
unwrung: 81 (III. ii. 257) 
unyoke: 128 (V. i. 59) 
uphoarded: 6 (I. i. 136) 
up-spring: 23 (I. iv. 9) 
use: 97 (III. iv. 163) 
uses: 13 (I. ii. 134) 

vailed: 10 (I. ii. 70) 
valanced: 56 (II. ii. 451) 
validity: 79 (III. ii. 201) 
variable: 70 (III. i. 181) 
variable service: 104 (IV. 

iii. 25) 
vast: 15 (I. ii. 198) 
ventages: 85 (III. ii. 380) 
very comment: 74 (III. ii. 

84) 
vice: 95 (III. iv. 98) 
videlicet: 37 (II. i. 61) 
violet: 18 (I. iii. 7) 
violets: 116 (IV. v. 183) 
virtue of his will: 18 (I. iii. 

16) 
voice: 84 (III. ii. 363); 147 

_(V. ii. 263) 
voice and yielding: 19 (I. 

iii. 23) 
vouchers: 130 (V. i. 114) 
vouchsafe your rest: 40 (II. 

ii. 13) 
Vulcan: 74 (III. ii. 89) 
vulgar thing: 11 (I. ii. 99) 

wait upon: 50 (II. ii. 278) 
wake: 23 (I. iv. 8) 
wandering stars: 136 (V. i. 

280) 
want true colour: 96 (III. 

iv. 129) 
wanton (adj.) : 36 (II. i. 22) 
wanton (adv.) : 98 (III. iv. 

183) 



Prince of Denmark 



203 



wanton (noun) : 149 (V. ii. 

313) 
warrantise: 135 (V. i. 251) 
wash: 77 (III. ii. 168) 
watch: 45 (II. ii. 148) 
water-fly: 141 (V. ii. 84) 
way: 118 (IV. vi. 34) 
weak supposal: 8 (I. ii. 18) 
weal: 87 (III. iii. 14) 
weeds: 122 (IV. vii. 80) 
weedy: 125 (IV. vii. 175) 
weigh'd: 103 (IV. iii. 6) 
wharf: 28 (I. v. 33) 
wheaten garland: 139 (V. ii. 

41) 
wheel: 115 (IV. v. 171) 
wherein: 112 (IV. v. 92) 
which one: 72 (III. ii. 31) 
'while . . . grows': 84 (III. 

ii. 365) 
wholesome: 83 (III. ii. 334) 
whoreson: 133 (V. i. 190) 
wicked prize: 89 (III. iii. 

59) 
wildness: 65 (III. i. 40) 
wind ... of: 20 (I. iii. 56) 
windlasses: 37 (II. i. 65) 
windy suspiration: 11 (I. ii. 

79) 



winking: 45 (II. ii. 137) 
wit: 43 (II. ii. 90) 
witching: 86 (III. ii. 413) 
withal: 18 (I. iii. 14) 
withdraw with: 85 (III. ii. 

367) 
withers: 81 (III. ii. 256) 
without more circumstance: 

32 (I. V. 127) 
Wittenberg: 12 (I. ii. 113) 
woman: 126 (IV. vii. 190) 
wonder: 112 (IV. v. 89) 
woodcocks: 22 (I. iii. 115) 
woo't: 137 (V. i. 299) 
word: 31 (I. v. 110) 
would: 90 (III. iii. 75) 
woundless: 101 (IV. i. 44) 
wrack: 39 (II. 1. 113) 

Yaughan: 128 (V. i. 68) 
yaw: 142 (V. ii. 121) 
yeoman's service: 139 (V, ii. 

36) 
yesty: 145 (V. ii. 199) 
yield them: 109 (IV. v. 11) 
your: 34 (I. v. 167) 
your paintings: 69 (III. i. 

150) 



DEC 



